The High End Of Low
by AkiyukiNishimura
Summary: He had to do it, it was the only way of preventing the Death Note from falling into Mello's hands. He had to kill Sayu. Mello and Near are now forced to think up a new plan because they couldn't get their hands of the Death Note and a broken Light Yagami doesn't know which direction to take his life now that he has completely crossed the line of no return. AU Fic
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: LelouchYagami owns nothing.**

* * *

_**Prologue**_

On November 23rd 2006, a bored Shinigami named Ryuk dropped a Death Note from the Shinigami Realm to Kanto, Japan just to see what would happen. That same day a High School Student named Light Yagami found that Death Note when he saw it fall to the ground outside as he looked out a window at school. When Light first took a look at the Death Note, he thought it was a joke, so he left it there.

A few minutes later he took the Death Note home to see if it was real. Light then read the rules that were presented in the Death Note. Light first tried to use the Death Note on a violent criminal who at the time was holding a school hostage. Korou Otoharada was the name of the killer and Light wrote the name in the Death Note. After 40 seconds had passed, Light thought the Death Note didn't work, but then he heard the criminal had died of a heart attack immediately afterwards. He became skeptical, maybe it was just a coincidence.

To see if the Death Note really worked or not, he used it on another criminal, this time the serial rapist Takuo Shibuimaru. This time it was right at the scene of the crime. That is when he discovered the Death Note's powers were real. Traumatized, Light questioned his actions. During that time he then thought of the possibility that the notebook could be used for good. It was then that he made it his goal to clean up the scum of the earth to make a perfect world.

About five days into his goal, Light's mind started going insane as he started to fall under the influence of the Death Note. As Light's mind was breaking, it became less and less of a struggle to kill somebody to the point where it felt good. It was also around this time that Light start revised his goal to make a perfect world and be the god of it. Around this time Ryuk arrived at Light's house and made a deal with him. Light would provide entertainment to him, but when it was Light's time to die, it would be Ryuk who would write Light's name in his Death Note. Light accepted this deal.

Light continued using the Death Note, being entertainment for Ryuk. Shortly after Light started killing criminals, the police and detectives took notice of the sudden deaths of criminals. One of those police officers was Light's father, who was the police chief. Around this time, a website called The Legend of Kira the Savior came to the internet and the killer was given the name, Kira. Light accepted this name as the alias for his god.

The detectives got the world's greatest detective L to investigate these murders as L was really interested in the subject matter. He was able to lure Kira out with live bait. He gave Lind L. Taylor the job to pose as him on television. Light saw this broadcast and when Lind L. Taylor disagreed with him, Light killed him with the Death Note, bragging about it afterwards. That was when L realized that Kira's powers were real and that was when L made his broadcast to challenge Kira. Light accepted this challenge.

Light continued to kill criminals, using many experiments with his Death Note in an attempt to throw L off. These attempts only allowed L to get closer to his target. L let Raye Penbar investigate his suspects in the Kanto area. One of them was Light. After Light manipulated a bus incident to get Raye's trust, he got Raye to unknowingly kill his entire squad before Light killed Raye himself. This forced the large investigation to decrease as almost all the police detectives on the case quit.

This also got the attention of Raye's fiancé, Naomi Misora. Naomi Misora was going to L about her theories on Kira in order to avenge the death of Raye. That is when she ran into Light and when Light found out she was going to expose information that Kira could kill in other ways, theories that would lead L to him very quickly, Light manipulated her to expose her real name, so he could kill her, eliminating the threat.

L's continuing investigation of Light had him add security cameras to Light's room in an attempt to expose him. Light was able to still kill criminals without the security cameras noticing. It was then that L decided to investigate Light by getting close to him. L introduced himself to Light during Light's High School Graduation. With L close to Light, Light devised a plan to get L to trust him, so he could get his real name.

After getting to know each other during a tennis match, L asked Light Kira related questions in order to make L more suspicious of Light. After Light's father suffered a non Kira heart attack, L decided to work with his Task Force to deal with Kira.

It was then that a second Kira made its broadcast, which allowed L to recruit Light to help them investigate it. Shortly afterwards, the second Kira introduced herself to Light, her name was Misa Amane and her Shinigami was Rem. She revealed that she had Shinigami Eyes, which allow her to see people's name. She wanted to be Light's boyfriend, with Light telling her that he couldn't be her boyfriend, but he could act like he was. She would follow Light, not knowing that Light was solely just using her.

During Light and Misa's attempt to kill L, L decided to arrest Misa on the suspicion that she was the second Kira. This derailed Light's plan, where he had to change it, as Rem would kill him if he didn't save Misa. Light decided to make himself and Misa lose their memories and give the Death Note to someone who had a lust for power as part of a larger, complex plan. When they get their memories back, they can kill L as Light got Ryuk to add fake rules to throw the Task Force off.

Light turned himself in and after a week in solitary confinement, he relinquished ownership of the Death Note, losing his memories in the process. Confused, Light demanded L release him as he wasn't Kira. After 50 days in solitary confinement, L decided to release Light and Misa but not without a test.

His test was to have Light's father Soichiro Yagami give Light and Misa a mock execution where Light and Misa were made to believe that Soichiro was going to kill Light and then kill himself and then Misa would be taken to her execution. Light and Misa were able to pass it unknowingly since L would think that Kira would kill anybody, even his father, to survive.

L got Light and Misa onto his team. Misa would be watched over by L and Light would be handcuffed to L until they were relieved of suspicion. The new Kira was Higuchi, a member of the Yotsuba Group. Higuchi was told to use the Death Note to kill criminals but he started using it for personal gain. When Higuchi started to go after Misa, Rem took action. Rem got the amnesic Misa to trust her and told her that Light was Kira. Misa decided to follow what Rem wanted her to do.

Light and Misa helped the Task Force get closer to Higuchi. During this time, Light became friends with L and wanted to work with him more. They also had Aiber and Wedy help them with parts of the case as well. L made a trap for Higuchi in order to prove that he was Kira. When Higuchi fell for the trap, they went after him, resulting in a car chase. When Higuchi was caught, the Task Force got their hands of the Death Note. Light then took the Death Note from L to see what the deal was all about and got his memories back. Light was corrupt again and his friendship with L flew out the window. Light then killed Higuchi so he could permanently have his memories back.

L and the Task Force read the rules of the Death Note and discovered the fake rules. The fake rules were that if somebody didn't kill someone in 13 days after using the Death Note, that person would die. The other fake rule was that if they burned the Death Note, everybody who touched the Death Note would die. L became suspicious of these fake rules but released Light and Misa anyway.

Light got Misa to find her Death Note, which he hid and got her to kill people again. He deliberately got his and Misa's life in danger to get Rem to write L's name in her Death Note which would kill Rem in the process as Shinigami can't kill another person to prolong someone's life.

On November 5th 2007, Light got Rem to kill L and his butler Watari. With the main threat out of the way, Light could freely kill criminals again. Light took his position as the new L. He took out the remaining threats at the time by killing the remaining members of Yotsuba as well as Aiber and Wedy. Within 5 years, Kira practically became the ruler, with many places falling under his control.

L's death got the attention of Near and Mello, two orphans from the Wammy House in Winchester, England. In response Near and Mello went their own separate ways. Near became the leader of his own Kira Investigation group called the Special Provision for Kira (SPK) to investigate. Mello gained control of the LA Mafia in an attempt to get his hands on the Death Note.

Mello's Mafia kidnapped Director Takimura of the National Police Agency (NPA) in exchange for the Death Note. This was a person that Light didn't really care about so he wrote the director's name in his Death Note and made the cause of death, suicide. Mello decided to take a different approach. He decided if he was going to get the Death Note, he was going to have to kidnap someone close to Light.

It was at that moment that Mello and his Mafia kidnapped Sayu Yagami, Light's sister. Everything changed at that moment as Light was put in a stalemate, kill his sister or give Mello the Death Note. This is where our story begins.


	2. Road To Perdition

**I'm sorry if most of the dialogue in this first chapter comes from Episode 28 in the anime titled "Impatience", but I wanted to keep it to make the chapter more faithful to the anime. All the following chapters will have original dialogue. Also I changed a few things from the original canon pertaining to this day, but you probably already knew that thanks to the Synopsis.**

* * *

_**Chapter One – Road To Perdition**_

* * *

" N ….Why do I feel like I'm talking to L?" Light thought, this mysterious voice, he talked so much like L.

" I told you that we wouldn't rely on L, but that's an even understatement." Near said through the voice synthesizer. "The FBI and CIA had explicitly asked that I head up the investigation, not you. Having said that, we are outraged by the recent murder of the director of the NPA and feeling something must be done. After reviewing the information, I believe there is a possibility that solving this case could lead to the arrest of Kira. As such, I'm willing to lend you my full support."

" Lead to the arrest of Kira?" Light thought "Who is he anyway? This confidence …!"

"Is there a problem, L?" Near questioned.

"No, it's just that following the death of Takimura, Deputy Director Yagami's daughter was kidnapped." Light said back "And we believe the same person is behind it. He's arranged for a trade in Los Angeles."

" A trade? The girl in exchange for the notebook, I assume." Near said.

"Yes." Light answered back.

"Understood." Near agreed "I have a team on stand-by in LA. But, for now, we'll be working on a need-to-know basis. Also I can monitor the city or …, on second thought, I'll let you have full authority on this, L."

This news relieved Light, with this information he could get Sayu back, they finally had the opportunity to meet again earlier when they were able to wind down. Now if everything went right, Sayu could survive. Light started setting the surveillance Near was able to give him. Now they could rescue Sayu.

At that moment Light's father Soichiro came up to him and told Light something he had to say.

"Light, at this point, I don't care if it would cost me my life." He told Light in a caring tone. "Please just save Sayu. Promise me."

This shocked Light, no his father had to live. Light loved his father, if it wasn't for him, Light would have never ended up this way. Light desperately responded back to get his father to change his mind.

"Stop talking like that, Dad!" Light called his father out. "You might have made your peace with the idea, but have you ever thought about how painful it would be for everyone else you'd leave behind?! I'd never be able to forgive you if you ended up dying in front of Sayu! Look, it's true that you might lose contact with us. But if that happens and you have to make a split-second decision by yourself, then I want you to do whatever's necessary to make sure both you and Sayu get out of this alive… Promise me, Dad."

"All right." Soichiro told back.

* * *

It was at that time that Light and the Task Force prepared their trip to Los Angeles to rescue Sayu. Light though was at a stalemate in his mind, if Sayu lives, he would lose the Death Note and have to improvise from there, if she didn't, he wouldn't have to give Mello the Death Note but he couldn't even think of doing a deed like that.

Misa was really excited to go to Los Angeles. "What?! No way! You really want me to go to Los Angeles with you?!" she said when she heard she was going there with Light.

"Yeah." Light said "There's a chance I might need to use your eyes this time." He promised. "So I wanna have you close by."

"Oh, Light! You are the best!" She said excitedly."Oh my gosh, I better start packing right away!"

It was at that moment that Ryuk started to laugh as Misa was starting to look for some clothes.

"Let's see, which one should I bring?" She said. "I can't decide." She then asked Light. "Light, which do you like?" Only to notice that Light was gone.

"Huh?" she responded.

Light was in the bathroom with a worried expression. Everything went so well beforehand and now he had two options before him. He had to choose. Light then thought "If things go badly, I may have to kill Sayu."

At the airport, Light gave the Task Force instructions. "Dad, I'll fly to LA ahead of you to make preparations for the handover." He told his father. "Ide and the other should arrive shortly after, but to be safe, we should all arrive on separate flights." He told the others. "Aizawa, I want you to tail my father closely and get on the same plane as him. Just in case something goes wrong." He told Aizawa.

"Got it." Aizawa said "I'm gonna get a haircut so they won't recognize me."

"OK everyone, I count on you." Light said with encouragement

* * *

Flight SE333 took off shortly afterward, with everybody in their positions in case anything went wrong.

At the moment everything seemed fine, then Fight SE333 took a detour and Light got nervous again.

Back at the hotel, Matsuda called Light about the problem. "This is bad, Light, I mean, L." He said. "The deputy director's flight has just changed direction. A passenger's gonna be dropped off somewhere. It can only be him."

"Damn it!" Light thought "What the hell is going on? I've already checked today's flight crews and passenger lists ahead of time. No one on board was suspicious. The pilot is a veteran of over 15 years and the co-pilot checks out clean, too! Then the kidnappers are powerful enough to influence these people?! Huh, it looks like I have no choice."

Light then called up N. "Director, this is L. Get me N"

When N was able to connect Light told him the information. "N. I'm sure you're aware of our current situation." Light then asked for a favor. "I need you to do me a favor. Can you notify the airlines, police, and military on your end not to take any action yet."

"All right, L, agreed." Near said "We'll locate the landing site and keep surveillance over the area using our satellite video feed. If there's anything else we can do, don't hesitate to let us know."

On the airplane a man gave Soichiro Yagami a message from Mello regarding the matter.

"Yagami, right now, you are the only one who can hear my voice." Mello said. "Listen very carefully. I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter. But don't get the wrong idea. I have no interest in your daughter's life one way or the other, or yours for that matter. There is only one thing I want and you know what that is; the notebook! Now all you have to do is follow my instructions. If you do that, no one has to die. As for the trade, I prepared the things so that both of us can walk away satisfied. Play along, and there'll be no problems."

Soichiro thought about the dilemma. "I'm going to give the notebook to some criminal in exchange for my daughter's life. When the time comes, what's the right thing to do as a police officer, as a human being, and as a parent?"

Soichiro was off the plane and Near was able to show Light where he was. "L, we've been able to use our satellite cameras to pinpoint where the plane has landed." Near said. "I'll send you a direct video feed of what we're currently seeing here."

"Dad" Light thought.

Ryuk laughed again."So what's gonna happen? How will he make the exchange in a place like that?" he said.

"You see the entrance, don't you, Yagami?" Mello said. "Go inside"

It was at that minute that Soichiro went underground to were Sayu was being held.

"Damn it!" Light thought. "An underground facility?! The kidnappers must have predicted we'd be watching it by satellite. And there is no way to keep an eye on Dad."

At that moment Soichiro was inside the underground base where he saw Sayu in a glass prison. Soichiro went up there to see a man in a mask on the other side. It was then that the man in the mask fired his gun.

" The glass is bulletproof, understand?" The man said. "As this place used to belong to a crime syndicate, they used to make trades just like this. We've made a few modifications as well. Slide the notebook through here. Once that's done, I'll release the lock. We both step back, and spin the glass door. The notebook will end up in my side, and the girl in yours. However, if you don't agree to this trade, I'll shoot your daughter through this opening."

"L, do you have a plan?" Near told Light "You can't seriously think that handing the notebook over to someone you don't know is a good idea, can you?"

"All right, Y462" Mello said "Proceed."

"First, open the notebook and then insert it halfway into the slot in the glass door on your left." Y462 said to Soichiro.

Back at the Hotel, Light was experiencing nothing but frustration for all the hell that was going on right now. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He thought. "It's a setback after a setback!  
And I've only just arrived in the U.S. so I'm not in any position to start giving orders to the American Police! At this rate, the notebook's gonna be"

His thoughts were interrupted by Misa who was really worried. "Light, is everything OK?" She said. "Is something wrong? You look kind of"

"MISA!" Light yelled angrily. "Just shut up and do like I told you, all right?! Look! I need you to keep killing Japanese criminals so just do that! This guy's obviously investigating Kira and he won't give up. If the killings are delayed, we are in trouble. Don't you understand?"

"Eh, OK." Misa said. "But who is this guy?"

"JUST GET ON WITH IT, ALL RIGHT?!" Light yelled back in a furious but desperate tone.

Light was getting worried again. "Huh …, I can still make it. But, at this rate, is my only option to kill Sayu?" he thought.

At that moment Light's father gave Y462 the Death Note.

"Now then, I'll test the notebook." Y462 told Soichiro Yagami.

"Test it?!" Soichiro yelled in a scared tone. "You're gonna kill someone?! No! I can't allow that."

"We can't make the trade without making sure it's the real thing." Y462 told Soichiro."Do you really want to see your daughter die?"

* * *

It was at that moment that Light stopped himself. He turned the monitor off and unlocked the compartment in his watch, revealing a piece of Death Note paper.

"I'm Sorry… Sayu" He whispered in a sad tone, no other human heard him, not even Misa. The Shinigami Ryuk heard his whisper but didn't say anything.

Light then started writing.

夜神粧裕 自殺  
Sayu Yagami Suicide

Light was silent from that point on, or at least until he heard the news. He turned the monitor back on.

Just before Y462 could write the name of one of Mello's gangsters, both he and Soichiro saw the most unusual sight. Sayu's eyes had a very depressed tone to them, compared to a scared tone. Sayu then started banging her head at the glass with incredible force. They both noticed as Sayu's head got bloodier and bloodier. After about a minute, Sayu was on the ground, her body not moving. A few moments later she wasn't breathing anymore.

Y462 didn't take off his mask but he responded in a surprisingly upset way. "Sorry for… your loss" He told Soichiro.

"WHAT" Soichiro yelled. "No No No, you got to be kidding" He said desperately "She can't be dead… no she can't."

Y462 opened the compartment for Soichiro to check Sayu out. "You could still hand over the Death Note."

"This deal is done." Soichiro yelled. "If Sayu is dead, than there is no point in me giving you that murder weapon."

"I will tell Mello she killed herself" Y462 said as he left the room.

"Come on Sayu…" Soichiro said quietly in a sad tone. "Come on… breath."

Soichiro then started to CPR to the best of his ability. After a few minutes he laid on her dead body crying his eyes out. He had lost a child who was dear to his heart. This was the worst feeling he could ever have.

A few minutes later, Soichiro exited the underground base holding Sayu's dead body as well as the Death Note that was not given to Mello.

Light saw the dead body from surveillance and asked Near another favor.

"N" he said in a sad tone. "Could you give me contact with the chief."

Near replied back. "We'll be able to establish contact with him when he gets on the helicopter, but I don't think you'll like what you see"

Soichiro got onto the helicopter where Near was able to connect to the helicopter's communication systems.

Near then disconnected his communication with Light.

"Why are you disconnecting?" Rester said to Near.

"It is L – Number Two's problem now, let him deal with it." Near said back "But I can't help but feel that Light simply killed Sayu so he wouldn't give Mello the Death Note."

"Light" Giovanni said back.

"Based on the information of the investigation when it was under the real L, Light was L's number one suspect before he died" Near said. "Sorry, we can't get close to the Japanese Police Force now, there is too much drama going on right now."

Light made contact with his father. "Dad… Dad… How is Sayu?" He said in a sad but desperate tone.

"I'm sorry, Light but… but… she's dead." Soichiro said back to Light.

"NO" Light yelled back in a very upset tone. "Try something… anything, she can't die, not now, not ever"

"Light" Soichiro said. "I tried everything I could and she still didn't come back."

"No…" Light yelled back with tears coming from his eyes. "Don't give up now, don't ever give up. I promised we would bring Sayu back"

"Well" Soichiro said. "We couldn't live up to that promise… I'm sorry."

"But" Light said in a desperate tone.

"It is time to face facts Light." Soichiro said back. "Sayu is dead and there is nothing we can do about it."

"D…Dad" Light said with now broken tears.

"I'll arrive at the Hotel you are staying at in a few hours, there I'll tell the other members of this police force about the loss." Soichiro said in a broken tone. "Sorry, Light but that is just how it has to be. I'm sorry but we can't talk anymore, I'm just not in the mood."

It was then that all radio contact was disconnected. The rest of the Task Force was going to be confused why Light stopped contact so early but he would explain when they got here. A missile would have been fired at the other helicopter in that area had the Death Note been delivered but it wasn't.

Light broke down crying after all contact was lost. Misa wasn't surprised at the site, even though she figured Light had killed Sayu. Ryuk didn't talk anymore figuring that talking to Light would make the pain even worse. The crying lasted a few minutes and then Light was silent.

Light just sat there saying nothing for about a minute and then suddenly he cover his mouth with his hands and ran straight to the bathroom.


	3. The Outlaw Torn

_**Chapter Two – The Outlaw Torn**_

* * *

Light was in the bathroom for about an hour when Misa started to get worried. She knew what Light was doing, he had been barfing for the last hour after killing his sister, but now she felt it was time to get Light out of there.

The toilet flushed again as Misa came in. "Light are your feeling all right?" She asked.

Light finished barfing after he heard that, but at this point it was only stomach acid that was coming out of his mouth. He flushed one more time. "Look at me Misa, do I look alright."

"You did what you had to do, Light" Misa said back in a sad, but caring manner. "If you had given them the Death Note, they would have figured out about those fake rules."

"Did what I had to do?" Light questioned and then he exploded. "No I didn't do what I had to do. I killed her, I killed my sister. Do you think I would be happy about killing someone I love?"

"I've just never seen you like this" Misa said nervously.

"Never seen me like this?" Light questioned again "Well you don't know my sister anyway."

"Light" Misa said worried.

Light then interrupted her. "This was the first time I saw her in a long time. I was too busy with the Kira investigation to be with my family, same as my dad."

Light continued talking. "I was going to hang out with her again after all that time, I missed her. I wanted to see her grow up. I have cared for my sister ever since she was born and now I killed her. You know what my father and the rest of the Task Force would think if they found out I killed my sister?"

"What?" Misa asked.

"They would call me a monster. They wouldn't care about me. If anything they would want me dead, and now I have to lie to them about Sayu." Light answered back "I can't even imagine the lies I would have to tell. Killing Sayu so Mello wouldn't get the Death Note, what a stupid idea. I should have just followed along and given him the notebook."

Misa saw the expression in Light's eyes, it was the feeling of guilt, loss, and sadness. Light truly was regretting his actions, this was something she had never seen before. For the past 6 years, Light had been killing people without remorse, but now something had changed. Did killing Sayu really break him?

"But…" Misa questioned. "Weren't you acting back there?"

Light knew what Misa was asking. Was he acting his reaction to Sayu's death? It was then that he answered back. "Acting; you really thought I was acting?" He asked Misa.

"What" Misa said in a worried expression.

It was then that Light told Misa. "The feeling of loss it… it was so genuine. I really didn't feel like I was acting Misa. I really felt that sad. It felt so real to me. The death, the feeling of loss and now the fact that she will never come back. If anything I should have died instead of her."

"No" Misa yelled back. "Don't say that."

"How can I consider myself a god now?" Light questioned. "A god wouldn't kill anyone in his family. A god would do whatever he could to make sure they survived, and I killed Sayu. This is all my fault."

The words "This is all my fault" started repeating endlessly throughout Light's mind.

_This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault,_

"RRRRRRR. DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT" Light yelled in a combination of anger and sadness, banging his fist at the wall each time he said Dammit.

It was then that Light spoke again. "H-how can I move on from this? This is a line I would never cross and I crossed it. I crossed it to hell and back."

This was the first time Light had questioned his actions since his first two murders. Light was feeling nothing but down. He was so shocked by his actions that he stopped talking for a moment.

"Misa" Light said. "I want to turn back. I want to take back my actions. I have dug myself into a hole and I don't think I'll ever get back out."

"What do you want me to do?" Misa said.

"Continue your killings." Light said in a regretful tone. "It is the only thing keeping me alive now. When we get back to Japan, I… I just want a break."

Misa then hugged Light. Light never cared for Misa, but the hug felt comforting. Misa really cared about him, but the only thing that was on his mind was his killing of his sister Sayu.

Had she not been kidnapped, Light would have started to hang out with the 20 year old as often as he could. He was so excited that he could see her again, but now she was dead and it was all his fault. Had he never gotten that Death Note, she would be alive right now. Light was blaming himself for everything. This was a feeling of regret he had never felt before.

How could he move on from this, he couldn't imagine all the other lines he would have to cross to keep his secret from being exposed, but right now it was the only thing keeping him alive?

Light's eyes had nothing but tears in them with a broken expression. It was at that moment that he saw a figure at the door of the bathroom.

That figure looked just like him, except he was a bit younger, about 6 years younger to be exact. That figure wore the same uniform he wore in High School. That figure had a stern look in his eyes and it looked angry.

It was at that time that figure spoke to Light. "How could you?" He said.

About a minute later, Light was able to return to the bedroom they were staying in, but not before seeing another figure. He looked just like him except he was a bit older and there was blood on his hands. The figure had a business suit with his head down and his eyes up. He had a creepy smile that almost freaked Light out when he saw it.

These figures must have been hallucinations or spirits as Light figured Misa didn't hear what the younger figure said to him in the bathroom. Right now though, Light would just ignore them. He needed to rest in his bed. He needed to clear his mind. With all these regrets going on, he had to keep quiet. It was going to be a few hours until he had to lie again.

In this time, Light's head was on the pillow as he was crying. It didn't stop until his father and the rest of the Task Force had arrived. In the meantime, Misa was writing names to keep his secret safe. After an hour, he got Misa to flush the piece of Death Note paper he used to kill Sayu down the toilet.

* * *

It was at that time that there was a knock and Light opened it to see that his father and the Task Force had arrived. He saw them all, Soichiro, Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and Ide.

"So" Light said in a sad tone "Did you tell them?"

"Yes" said Soichiro

"Oh Light" Matsuda cried out as he hugged Light and buried his head in Light's chest.

"I'm sorry Matsuda" Light said. Light understood what Matsuda was going through, being introduced to Sayu only for her to die shortly afterwards. He was someone who really wanted to know her more and now he'd never get the chance.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her" Light lied. "How did she die?"

"I saw it" Soichiro said "It was an apparent suicide."

"No" Light cried out "Sayu would never do that"

"Apparently she did" Soichiro said back to Light.

"We did the best we could do under the situation we had" Aizawa said "But after her funeral, we should focus on catching Kira. It is his fault why we are in this situation and if we didn't get that Death Note, Sayu would still be alive"

"Yes she would" Light responded back remembering the day he found that notebook.

It was at that moment that Misa came in. "Hello" she said in a kind manner.

"Misa" Mogi said "Did you support Light well when we were gone?"

"Yes I did" She said "I tried my best to cheer him up I have never seen him this sad before"

"Well that is understandable" Ide said.

"We'll focus back on the investigation within a week" Light said "After Sayu's funeral, we'll find and catch Kira"

It was at that moment that Light turned the computer screen back on. About a minute later, Near returned communication. "I am sorry for your loss L" Near told Light.

"Hello N" Light said back "I am just here to tell you that we are going to return to Japan as soon as we can. There is no reason for us to be here anymore, not without Sayu"

"She is in a body bag" Soichiro told Light "We should be back in Japan within two days"

"Thanks for the information Dad" Light said back but he really wasn't in the mood.

"Before I disconnect I want to tell you guys somethings" Near said.

"Okay" said Light as he disconnected the headphones.

"I want to bring up the possibility that Kira killed Sayu" Near said.

"What" said everybody in that dorm.

"There is a possibility that Kira killed Sayu to make sure no trade of the Death Note would be possible. I am not saying you should believe what I say, I just want to put an idea in your head" Near said.

"The SPK has been thinking of going to Japan to assist you guys on your investigation" Near said. "We'll be able to communicate with you guys when we can, there is a lot of staff to transport"

"Okay" Light said "We'll hear back from you soon"

"Goodbye" Near said

It was at that point that the communication was disconnected and the Task Force was able to talk again.

"Kira killed Sayu" Matsuda said nervously

"Well it is only a possibility" Aizawa said back.

"Listen, I know we are all feeling down right now but we have to focus on the investigation when we can" Light said "If Kira really did kill Sayu, we'll make sure he pays for it."

"Light" Soichiro said "I know the promise to save Sayu is now empty, but now you have to promise me that you'll tell us nothing but the truth. I am becoming skeptical of you."

"Yes" Light lied in an apologetic tone "I will tell the truth"

"Promise on your life Light" Soichiro said back.

"Yes, dad I promise on my life" Light lied.

Within two days, they would be back in Japan. The investigation would move back there as there was nothing left to do in L.A. Misa was disappointed they couldn't stay there longer but priorities were priorities. The rest of the Task Force stayed in separate rooms from Light, so it was easy for Light to keep his secret safe. Light would continue to head the investigation again after the funeral, but Light didn't like what he was doing. Yet Light felt that he still needed to create this perfect world. It is what he thought Sayu would have wanted.

* * *

The follow day Mello returned to his hideout. In his usual manner, he would eat a piece of chocolate before he entered the main room he hung out in. Seven of the thirteen other members were there. They were Jack Neylon, Zakk Irius, Glen Humphreys, Rashual Bid, Andrew Miller, Y462 and the leader Rod Ross.

"Mello" Rod Ross said in a disappointing manner "Most of the LA Mafia and I went over your past two failings on getting the Death Note, and we have come to an agreement… You are no longer going to be part of this group."

Mello's face was shocked. "No… you can't" he said in a paranoid manner. "Maybe I have failed twice but that is no reason to give up on me, we just need to kidnap more people close to the Yagami family, if not another family member."

"It would be no use" Zakk said "Even if we took another member, they would just die like the previous one. We need another method, which is why you are no longer a member."

"Look, I have been in control of this group and I have given you guys the opportunity to stop the biggest mass murder in history. Don't you guys want to go down as heroes?" Mello yelled back.

"Yes" said Andrew "Or maybe we could use the Death Note for our own gain"

"No" Mello said worried. "Don't go down that path"

"You are not in charge anymore, so we may as well go down that path" Andrew answered back.

"Sorry Mello" said Y462, "It was voted on by most of the group. You had a few supporters, others didn't care, but most wanted you out. Rod is going to call all the shots now."

"I'm relieving you of your duties Mello" said Rod Ross.

"You can't do this to me" Mello yelled. "Isn't it your policy, blood in, blood out"

"We are gonna make a deal with you Mello" Rod answered back "If we get the Death Note, we will kill you. If you get the Death Note, you can kill us. It is a little game we are gonna play with you. It is just a bit different from the game you're playing with Near"

"Damn it" Mello thought "That means I will have to find the Death Note before them"

"And you are just gonna build a huge empire when you're done with that" Mello yelled "I thought you guys were caring people. If this is the direction you guys are going in then you guys are worse than Kira"

"Your stuff is still here, Mello" Glen said "It is time for you to pack up"

It was at that time that Mello calmed down as he realized he wasn't going to change their minds. "Okay" he answered back. Mello got the stuff he left there and headed out.

Before he headed out, Zakk told him something. "We aren't gonna kill you, not yet, actually, but we are gonna give you a special treat before you leave"

It was at that moment that Mello saw the seven of them crack their knuckles as Mello tried to get away. All seven of them beat Mello up brutally, so he could feel the pain of being rejected.

When the beating was over Rod Ross threw Mello out. On the ground, Mello had trouble getting up but he knew he had to if he was going to beat the LA Mafia at their own game. His face was beaten and bloody. Two words came out of his mouth, "Damn Bastards" he said in pain. Mello gave up on the idea of beating Near and said "If you can't beat him, join him". It was time to think up a new plan and put this rivalry aside. He was going to go after Near.


	4. My Heart Burns

_**Chapter Three – My Heart Burns**_

* * *

The airplane flight back to Japan took several hours. No members of the Task Force were really in the mood, but a lot of them decided to talk to each other anyway. Matsuda talked to Aizawa and Mogi talked to Ide. Only Light and Soichiro were silent. Misa had different seats and Light made an excuse that she didn't really like sitting in the front where the rest of the Task Force was. Misa was really there so she could kill criminals without anybody noticing.

After the plane landed, almost everybody in the Task Force was tired. Light said they would go their separate ways for the night but would reunite the following day at the base they worked at. In a few days, it would be Sayu's funeral and at that time Light had to have criminals killed in advance to keep his cover. This was the first funeral Light had been to in quite a while. Yes Light remembered that his last funeral was L's, a person he needed to kill. This was a funeral for a person he didn't want to kill, but killed anyway and regretted it. Something came over him that day which made him kill Sayu. He thought Kira was a blessing but it was turning into a curse.

The funeral was in the afternoon and it was raining, not pouring but raining. Somehow this was the perfect mood for the day as everyone was feeling down, Light especially. The funeral service would take a while as Light, Sachiko and Soichiro had a lot to say about Sayu when it was their turn to come up. When it was Light's turn, he had to speak his feelings about Sayu without accidently revealing anything that would make the Task Force think he was Kira. Yes, Light was Kira but now he didn't want to be.

Light just wanted happy thoughts in his head again and it seemed impossible for them to come with all the guilt he was feeling. Sayu gone at 20, how was he going to live with himself. Even worse, how was the rest of the family going to move on now that they realized that one of their children was gone to soon.

Light couldn't blame anyone but himself, not even Mello. If he had never gotten this Death Note, Mello would have never kidnapped Sayu. He saw the younger figure of himself throughout his walk to the funeral home, still showing the face of shame for what he did to Sayu. Light couldn't help but answer back to him "Yes, you are right, I shouldn't have done this."

When they arrived at the funeral home, Sachiko ran towards Light and hugged him. "Oh Light" she cried out.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her" He said back "I wish she was still here as well."

Even with all the lies Light had told throughout his 6 years as Kira, today was a bit different. Today, in regards to Sayu, he was telling her the truth, the only lies he told this day were in regards to Kira and in regards to him being responsible for Sayu's death. Everything else was genuine. He had never felt a loss this big in his life and he certainly wasn't in the mood to celebrate Sayu's life as much as he loved her. He simply wanted her back.

"We may as well begin" Matsuda said to Light "Once this funeral is over we must see what we can do about the Kira case today."

"Yes, Matsuda" Light responded "We'll return to the case, but Sayu is just too important right now"

"Light is right, Matsuda" Aizawa responded "I am still concerned about taking down Kira but that shouldn't interrupt for the personal problems we are experiencing right now."

"Can we proceed?" Soichiro said "I am just as upset as you guys, but she was so important to me. If we are going to do it, we are going to do it now."

"It is time to go in anyway" Light said "We are right on time."

They all entered the funeral home one by one. The Task Force first and then Sachiko. The priest was there to tell about the passing of life and how important someone's life is.

Light agreed with a lot of what the priest was saying. Except a few, he had disregarded the value of life in an attempt to make a perfect world. Light still thought that criminals should all just die. He still thought if something was a threat to him, it had to die. Sayu was in danger but he could have still worked around it and she was precious to him, so he regretted killing her. The last thing Light disagreed about was the priest's concept of heaven and hell as Light knew they didn't exist.

There was no heaven or hell. When you died, you went to Mu, a world of nothingness. Whatever it was it wasn't an afterlife. Light knew he would go to Mu eventually but he didn't want to know what it was. Light wanted to stay alive though, he needed his perfect world to be made despite knowing that he had crossed a very deep line. Even then he forgot about all the other lines he had crossed.

Light was still corrupt, still blind, and still prideful. He was drunk with power and he didn't even notice it, but he was starting to be a bit more aware of his actions. He didn't want to do anything like this again.

Each member of the Task Force went up to talk about Sayu. Each one gave what they could because of the lack of information they had on her. Light's, Sachiko's and Soichiro's eulogies would be dominant as they had a lot to say about her.

The speeches got longer as the rain slowed down outside. Even then it didn't change the mood of the day. As far as Light was concerned this was the worst day of his life.

After the funeral service it was time to eat the lunch there. The food was all of Sayu's favorites and they ate as much as they could, except Light who only ate a little. Light hadn't eaten much since the day Sayu died and because of how desensitized he was about his actions it would take some time before he would eat more.

During that time, Light was able to see Sayu. He knew she wasn't there so it had to be a hallucination or a happy memory because he knew she was dead. He saw her in three different ages during lunch time, 20, 14 and 7. Light remembered the good times he had with her when she was 14 and when she was 7. Light was trying hard to think of only the good times he had with Sayu, but he still kept thinking of why he even thought killing her was a good idea.

After lunch it was time for them to go to the graveyard to bury Sayu. The funeral had been a closed coffin due to how beaten up her face was. Light wanted them to open it just once so he could see his sister one last time but they didn't let him.

"Give her back" Sachiko yelled as they were burying Sayu. Light just stood there and thought "If only I could. Sorry Mom"

The burial took at least an hour and when it was over Sachiko and Soichiro left. Soichiro was going to drive his wife home and be with her for a few hours. The rest of the task force left except Light and Misa.

"Are you coming?" Matsuda asked Light.

"I'll be back as soon as I can" Light said "Just leave me alone for the moment"

"That's fine" Matsuda responded back.

After the Task Force had left. Light just stood there and then he spoke.

"Hold me Misa" he said in a sad tone.

It was at that moment that Misa hugged him. It felt good to be around Misa, it reminded him of the times Sayu comforted him during bad times. The hug was comfortable and it made him feel a bit better but the thought was still in his head.

_This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault,_

He just couldn't let go of it. It was then that he saw the two figures together. His younger self who was upset at what he did and his older self who was simply smiling. They just stood there on the other side of the grave and Light was just wondering. Who the hell were they?

"No parent should bury their child" Misa told Light.

"Yes" Light responded "But no parent should have a child who murdered that child"

After about an hour of standing there. Light told Misa something.

"It is time to go" he told her "I just can't stand this feeling anymore. The kills for the day have already been made. You'll be able to go back to your duties tomorrow when we are back to where we have been working"

It was then that they left. The case was going to continue how it had been but Light didn't feel comfortable working in a group that he had to lie to.

* * *

Mello had spent at least a day in New York City. It had been about 2 weeks since he had been kicked out of the Mafia. He was just on his way to Near's Headquarters. The trip took a few hours because of the traffic but he finally arrived at the entrance.

"Do you need any help?" A guard asked him at the entrance.

"I need to find Near" Mello responded in a serious manner.

"Sorry, but we can't take that request" the guard said "Besides you're a total stranger"

It was at that moment that Mello took out his gun and pointed it toward the guard's head "No I bet Near actually knows me" he responded back "Now let me in our I am going to blow your brains out."

"Okay… Okay, you can come in" as he let Mello enter.

It was there that Mello saw the guy at the receptionist desk. He needed to get Near's attention. He went up toward the desk and said "Is there a local office?"

The guy at the desk didn't know about Mello at all. "Sorry, but I can't take your order at this moment"

It was then that Mello took out his gun again. "Oh I'm sorry" he responded "I thought you said that you couldn't take my order at the moment"

The receptionist was scared "Uh… the nearest one is to the left, please don't harm anyone I am begging you"

"Near" Mello thought "I am so close to you, once I have your attention, we can make a deal"

Mello arrived at an office with a ton of workers, minor members of the SPK. It was then that Mello took both of his guns out and fired toward the ceiling. This scared everybody in the room.

"Now everyone cooperate and nobody gets hurt" he told them "I am holding this office hostage. Now if someone can take me to Near, nobody will get harmed"

At the top office where Near was staying, it was Steve Mason who informed Near about the situation.

"Near" he said "We got a bit of a problem. An office on the first floor has been taken hostage"

"Give me the room number and I will be able to see what is going on" Near responded.

It was then that Steve gave Near the room number, so Near could know which camera to get footage from. It was then that he saw Mello from the security camera.

"Mello" Near thought "Just what are you doing here?"

Near then rewinded the footage so he could see Mello arriving in the room and he heard Mello's words from the footage. "Now everyone cooperate and nobody gets hurt. I am holding this office hostage. Now if someone can take me to Near, nobody will get harmed"

"He needs to see me for something" Near said. "Rester, Halle, Giovanni, bring this man up and bring your guns just in case"

A few minutes later, the three had arrived in the office Mello was holding hostage, Halle and Giovanni were pointing their guns at him.

"You say you want to see Near, Mello." Halle told Mello "We can bring you too him, just surrender your weapons and everything will be fine"

"Okay… I will" Mello responded "I don't need them now that you are going to let me talk to Near"

A few minutes later, Mello had arrived at the room Near was working in.

"Thank you for bringing him up" he told the three and then he turned his head to Mello "Okay spill it Mello what do you want from me"

"I want an opportunity to get my hands on that Death Note" Mello told them. "It is in the hands of Yagami and now that Sayu is dead, I don't think I could find anyone else who would be special enough to them that they would trade it."

"You are talking about Light, the leader of the Task Force at this moment" Near responded "And what happened to you and your mob. I never thought that you were this desperate"

"They kicked me out" Mello said back angrily. "They were just in it for the power and when I couldn't offer them what they wanted they took that power away from me. They are no better than Kira. They could rot as far as I'm concerned"

"So you are desperate for some power again" Near said "That still doesn't give you any right to come here. Remember we are still playing a game"

"I am here to make a deal with you Near" Mello said

"So" Near responded back "What is it?"

"You and me are both after that Death Note so we can find a way to take down Kira" Mello said "I am here to make a truce. We have to work together on this. I become a member of the Special Provision for Kira and we can take down Kira together. I have a strong feeling that Kira killed Sayu."

"I do too. I also think that Light is the most likely candidate to be Kira based on the files L left behind… Okay" Near said back "But how should we settle who gets credit for capturing Kira"

"A game of chess will do" Mello answered back "It will be a true battle of wits and to make it more exciting… best two out of three."

"Deal" Near said back "I would do anything to take Kira down as soon as possible. It has been almost 6 years which is way too long for Kira to reign"

"Mello, you are now an official member of the Special Provision for Kira" Near said "I will let you be the one to investigate Light Yagami"

"And how about you?" Mello asked

"I have a new strategy to take down Kira. Ladies and gentlemen we are taking this investigation to Japan." Near said. "We are going to leave in a couple of days"

"Why Japan?" Mello asked

"Because that is where the Task Force is" Near responded "They left LA about 2 weeks ago"

"Okay Near" Mello said "I will follow your orders on one condition"

"And what is that?" Near responded

"You let me bring Matt" Mello said back.

"That is a deal Mello" Near said. "It is time to take down Kira once and for all"

The room was now filled with confidence. Mello and Near were going to team up to take down Kira and they knew exactly where he was. While Kira was mourning the death of his sister, it was the one who kidnapped Sayu and the one who gave Light surveillance who were coming after him. A new battle of wits had just begun.


	5. AOV

_**Chapter Four – AOV**_

* * *

The showers Light had been taking since his sister's death had been a lot longer than usual. Beforehand they had been about 5 to 10 minutes with Light coming out of the bathroom pretty quickly. Now they had become about an hour long with Light's head looking down on the ground in a depressed tone. It took him longer than usual to get out of the shower and he started bringing his bathrobe as he knew his clothes would be too wet to put on immediately. In fact, when he started to notice that his clothes were wet he started leaving his clothes outside.

A week after getting the group back together in Light's headquarters after Sayu's funeral. Aizawa gave the Task Force information on just who Near and Mello were.

"I got this after some research" Aizawa said "Near and Mello are two orphans from the Wammy House"

"The Wammy House?" Light responded.

"Yes" Aizawa said "The same place L grew up and the same place that Watari founded"

"So who are they anyway?" Matsuda responded

"Based on the information from the Wammy House, they are two orphans who have been trained to be L's successor if anything happened to him" Aizawa said.

"Here are two pictures of them. Near is the one with the white hair and Mello is the one that has a more feminine look." Aizawa said "You definitely want to check this out."

"L had successors" Light thought "No wonder N sounded so much like L when he called. When they are taken care of then I can finish my perfect world"

"So", Light said "should we let them catch Kira and be given credit for it or should we still go after Kira. I would like us to vote"

"I have trusted you since day one," Matsuda told Light "I say we should continue to investigate."

"I just want this investigation over with as soon as possible" Aizawa told Light, "If that mean we should continue investigating Kira then we should."

"This has been L's case, and L said you were a worthy successor to him" Ide said. "You should be the one to lead us to victory"

"I trusted you since L's death" said Mogi. "You should be the one to lead".

"Dad?" Light asked.

"Huh… I want what is best for all of us but most importantly I want what is best for my son" said Soichiro. "I will leave the decision all up to him."

"I guess we are going to continue the investigation" Light answered.

* * *

On Halloween, Light walked to the graveyard and didn't stop until he saw L's grave. He came here every Halloween in an attempt to talk to L's Spirit or his hallucination of L. If L was still alive it would have been his birthday today.

Light walked until he saw the grave and when he arrived he saw L. This time he was going to talk about all the pain he was going through.

"L" Light started to talk "I want to know, how do you move passed this, how do you move past a loss like this? I need to know because I killed Sayu."

"You killed my sister Sayu" said an angry voice "What are you going to do next kill my mother and then my father to simply continue your goal for a perfect world?"

Light turned to see the figure, it was a younger version of him. Now he simply had to ask, "Who the hell are you?"

"I am many things Light" the figure said. "I am you. I am who you were for your first 17 years on this planet. I am who you were before you got the Death Note and who you briefly became again when you lost your memories. But you can simply call me your conscience or what your conscience used to be."

"So I figure the other guy is Kira" said Light.

"Yes, he is and I have been trying to prevent you from following his path for the past 6 years" Light's conscience said. "It is only now that you killed Sayu and regretted that you have fully awoken me"

"You should have stayed asleep" yelled Kira "There is no way you are going to prevent me from being god of the new world."

"I need to talk to L" Light interrupted. "I feel he could help me with what I am going through."

"You haven't been able to talk to L since he died" Light's conscience answered back angrily.

"Yeah, but his spirit might want to talk to me, yet he still hasn't" Light answered.

"He won't talk to you because he can't forgive you" Light's conscious answered.

"For killing him?" Light answered.

"For your deeds" said Light's conscience. "You have killed thousands without remorse or repent and you haven't turned your back on your goal. You choose your goal over everything. To make a perfect world that is a stupid idea, you can't make a perfect world"

"You can't prove that" said Kira.

"Shut up Kira, you have been the bane of my existence and an insult to the Yagami family" Light's conscience said. "You haven't made a perfect world. Why, because you have made this world worse. You are trying to make a utopia, Light, but you are actually making a dystopia. There is no hope for you in the future if you continue on this path"

"But if I stop then I'll be dead" Light said.

"You are only dead because of the lies you have been telling" said Light conscience. "Once your little Kira conspiracy falls apart, it is all on you."

"I have been killing criminals who deserve to die" Light yelled back with tears in his eyes. Kira immediately answered back with "Yeah that is more like it."

"You have been killing criminals" Light's conscience said, "but you have also been killing innocent people who get in your way."

"But" Light responded.

"And innocent people who simply disagree with you" Light's conscience said. "You have turned yourself into a criminal just to end a world of criminals and when all is said and done you'll be the only criminal left. How does that feel Light?"

"Ryuk said something similar when we first met" Light answered.

"Yes he did" Light's conscience said. "With the path you have been taking, the only thing you're worth is being dead."

"How can I be worth being killed when I already feel dead?" Light said.

"There is still hope for you" Light's conscience said.

"Yeah" said Light as he started to walk away, "I should make sure this world is a utopia and make sure it is perfect"

"No" Light's conscience yelled "If you continue down this path you'll just end up like Kira himself, a power hungry tyrant. You are blind Light… blind, the Death Note has corrupted you. Continue down this path and the Light Yagami as we know it is going to die and Kira is going to take his place."

"Kira is going to take my place?" Light said quietly as he was walking. "I'll see you guys later" Light said. "I can't work with the Task Force anymore"

Light continued walking back, the words from his younger self still echoing in his head. He knew now that he was worse than he was expecting but he still thought he could make a perfect world.

"I fight against a greater evil" Light thought "I will never become the tyrant he was talking about," forgetting that he had been this tyrant for the past 6 years.

* * *

The following day Light told the Task Force how it was going to be from now on.

"Misa and I are going on our own, we are leaving the Task Force" said Light.

"What are you guys talking about?" said Matsuda. "You can't just quit on us now, you have helped us for the past 5 years"

"It won't be permanent" said Light "In fact I will still be investigating Kira while I'm at it, I just need a break."

"Is this about Sayu?" Aizawa said

Now that Light thought about it, it kind of was, given the amount of sorrow and regret he had been feeling since he killed her.

"Yes it is" said Light. "It hasn't been comfortable for me to work on the Kira investigation since she died. Working on the investigation alone would be better almost like a vacation. I have had a lot of stress since that day."

"How long will you be?" Matsuda answered

"About a few months will do" Light said. "Like I said, it will only be temporary"

"I want what's best for my son" Soichiro answered "But also what is best for the investigation. If Light isn't feeling like working together with us, than he should have the right to do so."

"If that is so" Aizawa said "Then we'll split into teams for the investigation. Matsuda and I will investigate together and Mogi and Ide will also investigate together. Light and his father can work separately."

"That is fine" Matsuda told Aizawa "The investigation hasn't let us in the field since the Yotsuba case. I think that is a good decision"

The following day, Light and Misa would leave the headquarters and take a taxi to a hotel that Light had heard of. Misa was still killing criminals on her best schedule. Light still wanted to make sure his perfect world would be made but he felt he had to slow down a bit. If he kept going at this speed he'll end up like the power hungry tyrant Kira. He was Kira after all, god of the new world, but he didn't want to be power hungry at all.

* * *

That night the SPK arrived at the headquarters of the National Police Agency of Japan. It was the only remaining agency which worked with the Japanese Task Force. All the others had simply given up on the case all together to simply keep Japan in check, since Kira took over.

"The Special Provision for Kira has asked for a meeting. Their leader N says it is related to the Kira case" said the chief.

"If it relates to the Kira investigation, I guess we should check it out." said Riku Minami. "Kira has been a thorn in our side for the past 6 years"

"They want to talk to two regular officers before they can strike a deal with the Chief" answered Isamu Fujimoto. "They will be here in a moment."

A few minutes later Halle and Giovanni arrived at the office. They took their seats with one seat between the two reserved for Near.

Riku started the conversation. "You say this is about the Kira investigation. Given how long we have worked indirectly with L, how should we trust you?"

"L is dead" Halle answered in a serious tone "If there is anyone you should trust, it should not be the Task Force."

"And why is that?" answered Isamu "Just because L is dead doesn't mean the person taking his place shouldn't be trusted. If anything we should follow him to the road of victory."

"We have come to believe in the best of things" Riku said. "We still feel that working alongside the Task Force will help end the investigation."

"Then would you believe that the person in charge of the Task Force may be a mole?" answered Halle.

"No… What?" Isamu answered "What do you mean there is a mole? There is no way the current L is a mole."

"Then check this out" said Giovanni "This is all the information we got from L's files before they were permanently erased. It says that L's number one suspect for the case was Chief Yagami's son Light and L never let go of this idea even at death."

"So you are saying that Light Yagami has been in charge of this investigation this entire time" said Riku "And you believe he is Kira."

"Yes we do" answered Halle. "Light was never suppose to be a real successor to L. It was always going to be either Near, Mello or Matt, as they were the most trained from the Wammy House."

"This is interesting" Isamu said reading the files. "Almost everything Light Yagami did, fit under what L's perfect vision of Kira was, whether is was behavior during a tennis game or answering Kira related questions. He always thought all of that was how Kira would react given the circumstances."

"That still doesn't mean we will follow you" Riku said "This is L's idea of what Kira is. Given how he investigated it, he still didn't figure out who Kira was. How should we believe Light is Kira. Light may have just have been doing what he was doing those days."

"And that includes murder" Halle answered back. It was at this time that both she and Giovanni got their guns out. After that Isamu and Riku took their guns out and aimed at each other.

"This is not a negotiation" said Halle. "This is a demand. Now follow us our you may just wind up another victim of Kira."

"We will not follow until you can prove that N is a worthy leader to us" cried out Isamu.

"Okay" answered Giovanni, "we will" he left the room "Rester bring Near in" Halle, Isamu and Riku heard from the distance.

It was at that time that Near and Giovanni entered the room and took a seat in their chairs. Near was playing with a toy airplane at the time he sat down.

"So this is your leader" Riku answered disappointingly. "He is just a kid."

This angered Near and he put his toy down. "Don't call me that" he yelled.

"Near may look young" answered Halle, "but he is actually old enough to own this organization. Don't let looks deceive you"

"I am asking you guys for cooperation" Near told Riku and Isamu "We know where Kira is, L found his location in the Kanto region. L didn't think Light was Kira, he knew Light was Kira. He died before he could gather up all the proper evidence, but if he was able to complete his investigation you all would believe what he said was true."

"All we want is for this investigation to end" said Isamu.

"And I can lead it to it's end" Near said "But you got to trust me."

"So what is your plan?" asked Riku.

"To take control of the Japanese Police to restrict what Kira will be able to do" Near answered. "Once we do that we can lure him out and I can catch him."

"You want us to cease contact with the Task Force" Isamu said "And if we cooperate, this investigation will come to an end but what if you are wrong and this leads us to another red herring?"

"Than if I am not dead" Near answered, "you can take all that power away from me and everything will go back to normal. I promise everything will go back to normal when all is said and done."

"You can't take control of the Task Force though" answered Isamu "It has been privately owned since L died."

"I understand that" Near said.

"If you can promise us that" said Riku "than we can accept you as our leader. The chief's office is upstairs."

Near, Halle, Giovanni and Rester than went to the Chief upstairs to strike a deal with him. He will take total control of the Police System in Japan until he brings Kira to justice.

"That is all fine and dandy" said the Chief "But how will you execute this?"

"From now on until the end of the investigation" Near said "You guys will either call me N or Near. I may have told you my real name, Nate Rivers, but you cannot call me that again until Kira is brought to justice. All the police officers will be wearing tinted visor helmet so our second Kira suspect Misa won't be able to kill you even if she tried as she has Shinigami Eyes. Kira needs a name as well, so you will all be given alias that you will use 24/7 except with your families at home. My first request is simple. No police officer or detective in Japan will not be able to leave Japan until the investigation is over. I will be adding new rules regarding Kira but with this, nobody, not even the Task Force will be able to leave Japan"

And with that Near took control of most of the Japanese Police. This was how the new game was going to be played with Kira being trapped in Japan.

* * *

The following day Near called the Task Force.

"I need to speak to L, this is an important message" Near said.

"Sorry but L is no longer leading us as of now" answered Aizawa

"Then who is" Near asked surprised.

"No one, the Task Force is splitting up for sometime. L is working on his own and the Chief is working on his own, the others will be working in groups" Aizawa answered. "How did you get our location anyway?"

"I am currently investigating Kira in Japan. Could you at least give L's location?" Near said.

"Yes… once he checks in I can get his location" Aizawa said.

"That is fine… I will call you back in a few hours" Near said.

"That is fine" Aizawa said. "Bye"

"Who was that" Matsuda asked Aizawa as he entered the room.

"N" Aizawa answered. "For some reason he want to know Light's location."


	6. Empty Words

_**Chapter Five – Empty Words**_

* * *

It was early morning about 7 to 8 when Light and Misa found a taxi. It was a relatively small one, one that could hold only 4 people but it was enough. The trip would take about 30 minutes with traffic, so it wasn't a very long trip. However, Light and Misa had a bit to carry, so the taxi would have to take two trips or so they believed. It would take about 3 hours to arrange their room at the hotel that they were going to stay in from now on.

"We need a trip" said Light. "To the big hotel in east Kanto"

"The one with the highest ratings?" asked the old taxi driver.

"Yeah" Light answered with a bit of a smile "But some of our stuff is too heavy for one trip, could make another trip to get the rest of our stuff after we arrive?"

"I can have another taxi arrive to get your stuff" the guy said. "I just have to call one."

"Light" Misa asked "Where are we going?"

"It is the hotel I went to after a vacation to Hong Kong when I was nine" Light replied and then he smiled remembering the happy times "We were so worn out from the vacation that we had to stop there on the night we came back. It is one of the best hotels in Japan, the suites have multiple rooms"

It was at that moment that Light's face turned sad again. He remembered that vacation he took with his family. It was one of most fun vacations he took but it was Sayu's favorite, and he killed Sayu. Light's attitude didn't cheer up at all for the rest of the day. The happy memory had turned painful to him because of his recent actions. Maybe he wasn't going to go in the direction of Kira after all, but he didn't know if that meant going in the direction that his conscience wanted him to go in. Right now though the only thing he wanted was to feel better.

"Yes, Yes, Okay" the man said on his cell phone. "Good news, he is very close by, your luggage should arrive a few minutes after you arrive at that hotel."

"Thanks" Light said.

It was then that Light and Misa got in the taxi with about half of their luggage. The drive wasn't very exciting. It wasn't late at night so there weren't a lot of cars, so it did feel relaxing to Light and Misa, especially after two stressfully long flights.

Early in the ride, Light spotted two Kira supporters on the sidewalk. They looked desperate and poor, but it looked like they were idealists hoping for a better future, something Light would want to give anyone. However, Kira had been consuming his mind for the past 6 years and the fact that he now knew this made him think it wasn't worth it anymore. The signs they were carrying said "We'll support Kira for food". They looked about 5 years younger than Light. They must have been high school dropouts. One of them looked like a student Light remembered during his time in high school, but he didn't think it was the right person.

"Misa" Light said "Look."

Misa looked out the window to see the poor high school dropouts "They remind me of how I was shortly after my parents were murdered."

"Yeah" Light responded. "I wish I could help everybody but… but I can't" Light started to cry. "I spent so long learning to be a detective after I saved a woman from a robbery that I was sure I could be a person to get people like them out of poverty and then I became more of a recluse. I had plenty of friends but I still felt lonely and now I am going to be lonely for the rest of my life."

Ryuk laughed and then spoke. "Well I could say that the Death Note certainly did make you even more of a recluse then before"

"Shut up, Ryuk" Light whispered "I am not in the mood"

Light was sitting with his head slightly down, but his eyes were very apologetic. "Misa, are you still writing?" Light asked.

"Yeah… So" she said. She was writing names of criminals in her Death Note, she got all the information of them from her phone.

"You don't need to do it everywhere even if you are doing it for me" Light said. "It is dangerous."

"What is so dangerous about her writing in her notebook?" the taxi driver asked with no knowledge of the Death Note.

"It is personal" Light answered "She doesn't like others looking at her stories" Light lied.

"Well I have read many stories in my day" the taxi driver answered. "My friends always seemed to root for the bad guy. They always seemed to sympathize with them no matter how despicable they were. They made excuses for their actions and always stated that they didn't deserve what they got"

"And how did you respond?" Light said sympathetically.

"I always stated that no excuse can be made for their actions" The driver answered. "Whether we can forgive them as people is up to debate. You have to know the person to try to see it through their eyes, but the actions they committed as a whole are unforgivable."

"Well, there is no excuse for what I have done" Light thought at the moment, remembering what his conscience told him. "But Misa always stands up to me. If I died, would she die, just for me?"

It was then that Light disagreed with his thoughts. "No No, she can move on without me, I'm sure of it, but my actions in the state I'm in right now, I got to slow down a bit. No more innocents, that would make my conscience happy and I don't like the fact that I have killed innocent people for this perfect world. Sayu, when I die… can you… can you forgive me?"

It was then that they arrived at the hotel. All the things they needed were there within a few minutes. Light and Misa got there room after getting reservations. They said they would be staying for an indefinite amount of time. With budget that the Kira case was on, Light and Misa could stay in the hotel for about a year before the amount of money they needed to continue the case became dangerously low. Light and Misa made a plan to stay there for at least 3 to 5 months before regrouping the Task Force.

The suite Light and Misa ordered had one bedroom with a television, one living room with a refrigerator and freezer and a bathroom. The place had Wi-Fi so they could connect to the internet when they needed to get criminals names and faces (even though the television helped as well). Everything was brought in one at a time from the luggage to the computer Light brought.

After everything they needed was in the suite, Light left Misa.

"I am going out to do some grocery shopping" Light stated with his credit card in his pocket. "You should stay here" Light said. "If the killings are delayed we are in trouble, like I said."

"Okay" Misa answered.

* * *

At the grocery store, Light searched through as much food as he could some healthy, some junky. He needed more variety after getting tired of the clichéd food from home and with the Task Force. He still got sushi, a favorite from his childhood. When it came to picking out potato chips, Light was in a stalemate, the same old, same old or something new.

Light thought for a moment before he chose the Red Hot Potato Chips over the BBQ Potato Chips. "I am done doing the same kind for the past 13 years" Light thought.

He brought all the food back into the suite. "Surprise" Light said and Misa smiled at all the food he had brought back. "I have enough to last us about 2 weeks, so don't eat them up so quickly."

"Promise" Misa responded.

The rest of the day went pretty normally with Light and Misa doing a few things other than killing criminals. Light got a message from Aizawa asking him where his location was, in which Light gave his location through the phone. During this time Light's feelings for Misa changed from uncaring to unsure. She was so much like his sister when she was 14. It was the spirit of innocence in her that made him start to see her differently. But she wasn't broken like he was, if anything she was still psychotic for not seeing the ramifications that Light was starting to see. It was then that he asked her.

"Can you slow down on the killings a bit?" Light asked.

"Why? If we don't kill all criminals then your perfect world will never come" Misa answered.

"Yes… but I'm worried about you" Light said. "Instead of filling up a different amount each day, how about you just fill up at least one page a day from now on"

"Okay" Misa stated "But you should go back to killing as well, we haven't done it together for quite a while."

"Okay, Okay" Light said nervously. The problem was that he didn't feel good going back to writing on Death Note paper after he knew he had killed Sayu with it.

* * *

Bedtime had been different since Sayu's death. For about 10 days, Light had been crying himself to sleep each night with a feeling of guilt. After those 10 days, bedtime had gotten more relaxing but almost every night Light had a nightmare ranging from how he imagined Mu to how it would be if his father and the Task Force found out he was Kira. Some nights he woke up from these but others he was determined not to let it wake him up. The first couple of nights at this hotel were pretty normal and then one night came with a surprise.

Sidoh had arrived at the location and found Light and Misa's room. He was careful enough to avoid Ryuk because he knew that it would be better to introduce himself in the morning. One of the three Death Notes in the room was his, so he grabbed it and was quiet enough to get Light and Misa to touch it in their sleep. When they woke up, they would see him.

Shortly before Light and Misa woke up, Sidoh reentered the room, only to get Ryuk's attention.

"Sidoh" Ryuk said "What are you doing here?"

Ryuk's voice woke up Misa.

"Ryuk" Misa said waking up slowing "Who are you talking to?" It was then that she saw Sidoh. She screamed.

"Light, wake up" Misa nudged Light "We've got an unexpected visitor"

"What are you talking about Misa" Light said. Then he woke up and saw the figure.

Light was startled and fell out of bed. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Hi…" said Sidoh "Now that you two are awake, I can introduce myself."

Sidoh continued talking. "My name is Sidoh. Your Shinigami Ryuk took my Death Note and I want it back now. It is the one you are holding Light. I didn't steal it because that would freak you guys out… not that it wouldn't be fun"

"You mean this Death Note?" Light said and then he thought "This is the same one Ryuk gave me."

"Ryuk" Light questioned "You didn't tell me that this Death Note was stolen."

"But if I told you, it wouldn't have been as fun" Ryuk stated.

"Okay, Okay, we have three Death Notes, well four actually, if you count Ryuk's… which he never uses" Light said "So Sidoh… you want my notebook back, well first I want to make a deal with you… Misa and I can work with two Death Notes."

"Ryuk" Light said "I got my memory back through touching Sidoh's notebook, so if I change ownership to Rem's notebook, do I still keep my memories?"

"Yes" Ryuk answered "as long as I'm the official owner of that notebook, you will still have all your memories of all the people you previously killed, but if you lose it, you lose your memories as well."

After the procedure was done, Light made sure he gave Sidoh his first Death Note without losing his memories. Light declared a small victory.

"Okay" Light said "Now that we are down to only Rem's and Gelus's, I can't have Sidoh leave just yet. I have a deal to make with him."

At that moment Light and Sidoh went to the living room to discuss matters relating to his arrival back to the Shinigami Realm as well as a deal with the king that would relieve some of Light's misery.

"Okay" Sidoh said "I can do that. It would make me feel happy because Ryuk won't be able to take my Death Note ever again"

"Then we are done" Light said with a smile.

"I guess" Sidoh said and then he flew out of the building.

"All right" Light thought as he left the room "I hope this goes exactly as planned. Ryuk you are responsible for making me feel all this misery. If you never gave me that Death Note, Sayu would still be alive"

"So… how did everything go?" Misa asked.

"Oh, it went fine" Light said and then he turned to Ryuk in a more serious manner. "Ryuk… when I die, you die with me" he stated.

"Yeah" Ryuk stated with a smile "Like that would ever happen."

Light then thought "It needs to happen."

* * *

Back at the NPA Headquarters, Near had just finished all the work he had to do to make sure no police officer would leave Japan.

"So you were able to get a high ranking police officers in every airport in Japan" Near said.

"Yes" said the chief "This will allow us to prevent police officers from leaving without working with the government."

"Good job, Toshiro Iwata" Near stated. "I believe with you around we can accomplish almost anything lawfully. With you I was able to take control of almost every police station in Japan and when I am all done I will give them all back."

"Earlier today you told us that Sayu Yagami's death was not a suicide but a murder" Toshiro said.

"Yes and I think Kira is responsible for her death" Near said.

"You have to tell us why" Toshiro said.

"It is because, the Yagami family has been known for being strong willed. One of them wouldn't commit suicide over a traumatic experience like being kidnapped. If anything Sayu would continue on, maybe be a bit broken but continue on" Near responded. "Of course even if we ask the mother and father of Sayu, they may not believe us. They would only say it is a possibility but that doesn't mean it is true."

"So what do you want us to do now?" said Isamu.

"I will have Rester, Halle and Giovanni go to as many police stations all over Japan to see what we can do about the Kira supporters who live in Japan" Near said. "I want the chief and a squad of NPA detectives to go find Sayu's friends from Elementary, Middle and High School. Before she died, she had been in contact with them ever since she started social networking and she even stated she was happy all her friends could talk to her online. I want you guys to interview them. If anything this will get a lead that Sayu's death was not a suicide"


	7. Mark The Graves

_**Chapter Six – Mark The Graves**_

* * *

It was a bright and sunny morning. Light and Misa were doing the usual, now with two Death Note's instead of three. The first couple days after Sidoh had arrived had been pretty normal. It was then that Light saw the news. It said that Kira supporters want Demigawa removed from Sakura TV so they could have a more caring, more trustworthy leader of what Demigawa named Kira's Kingdom.

"Huh" Light said "Demigawa is disgusting. If I keep him on the air, then the reputation of Kira might be ruined."

"He is only a news person" Misa complained "It is not like he can do any harm."

"He is obnoxious with an attitude that seems all about greed" Light said. "If it wasn't for the fact that he never committed any major crimes, I would have killed him already."

Then Misa asked "Than why don't you kill him now? That would show how unworthy he is."

"I don't want to kill any more innocents. Killing Sayu was a step too far and now that I look at it, I have taken many steps too far" Light said. "I want to be a good man, but I am afraid that I am not."

Light turned to Kira's Kingdom to see Demigawa being an asshole as usual. This was a new show, it had been on for at least a month now, if not a bit less and Light hated every minute of it. "Kira should not influence people like him" Light yelled "The world of Kira should be a kind and gentle place, not a place with more people dying every day than usual. Seeing those two figures made me realize that I should stop killing people once this perfect world is complete. I want to be a figure for justice not a brutal dictator."

"So hey kid," Demigawa said over the TV. "What do you want with Kira being our god?"

"I want him to know that he should continue to kill criminals when the world is his" the kid said.

"No No No" Light yelled. "I want a better world for everybody not a world where I can rule with an iron fist. I have seen it ever since I killed Sayu. I am going too far. I will not end up like the Kira I saw."

There was a knock. It was a maid that had been working there. It was then that Light turned off the TV and opened the door.

"I heard you say something about Kira from outside" the maid said "Is there a problem"

"No", Light said, "I was just angry about what was happening on Sakura TV" he lied.

"Spill it" the maid said. "That sounds like a lie to me."

"I have to ask though" Light said. "Do you support Kira or not, I really want to know?"

"I do" the maid answered. "I see him making this world a better place everyday."

"Okay" Light said nervously. "It is because I am Kira."

"Really?" the maid asked.

"Shhhhhh" Light whispered. "You've got to keep a secret or I am dead."

"Can I see how you kill first?" the maid asked

"No" Light yelled and then he slammed the door.

"You took away the chance of having another alibi" Misa complained when the maid was gone.

"She probably won't believe me unless I did what she told me" Light said

"Killing in the name" Misa responded.

"Yes" Light said. "Killing in the name of justice."

"She seems more like a casual supporter of Kira instead of a hardcore follower" Light stated "If she was one those people on TV, she would believe us without evidence, anyway. I want to get Demigawa off without killing him. Maybe the rally will show a better person to be the newscaster."

Light turned the TV back on and a few minutes later he saw the candidate for the new position of who could be the next newscaster for Kira once Demigawa was out of the way. They were all female because the rally thought females would gain more support to Kira. The names were Fuji Kotoku, Hitomi Chino, Gina Bando, Chie Egami and Kiyomi Takada.

"I feel this world can be a kind and gentler place, so Kira pick me to replace Demigawa" said Fuji Kotoku.

"This world will be better without the people who make it rot. If we can show Demigawa how to support Kira without being rotten, than I am all for this" said Hitomi Chino.

"I have grown up on the idea that the end can justify the means and if we can show the world that Kira is not corrupt than we can prove that what he is doing is for the best" said Gina Bando.

"Take this into account. How much has the crime rate gone down in the last five years? About 70%. There are no wars going on either. If that doesn't prove that Kira is justice than nothing will" said Chie Egami.

"I have always believed in a better world and I have worked my way up to be one of the best possible newscasters in Japan. The negative Kira propaganda should stop. We are Kira's Kingdom. As long as we can support him, this world can be better and as long as he can support us, than that will prove that inside, Kira really is a nice person. I don't know who Kira is, but whoever he is, he is an idealist savior looking to make this world better. So Kira please listen. Make me replace Demigawa. I can only hope for a better future" said Kiyomi Takada.

Light remembers Kiyomi from college and he felt she would help bring Kira's reputation up. "They… They are all perfect" Light said quietly as he turned off the TV "Has the Kira voice synthesizer been completely set up?" Light asked Misa

"I finished setting that thing up a few days ago" Misa answered.

"That's great" Light said. "I have a plan."

* * *

That night at about 11:00 PM, Light contacted Sakura TV, using Kira's voice so they wouldn't know his identity. To be fair, they probably wouldn't believe him anyway and simply call it a prank. A prank that would get someone arrested.

"Hello and why are you calling us?" asked the executive on the phone

"Hello is this Sakura TV?" Light asked through the sinister computerized voice of Kira.

"Ye,Ye,Yes it is" the executive said nerviously "Wh… what do you want Kira"

"I want Demigawa fired from Sakura TV immediately and I want his version of Kira's Kingdom to be cancelled" said Light "Kira's reputation is at stake right here and Demigawa is a filthy man who would have been long dead if he committed any money related crimes. I want Demigawa off or I will kill every last one of you guys for failing my order. You here that?"

"Okay" the man said nervously. "We will."

"Alright" Light said "There are five new people you can choose from to be the newscaster for Kira. Their names are Fuji Kotoku, Hitomi Chino, Gina Bando, Chie Egami and Kiyomi Takada. Any one of them will do. If any of them can't work at the moment you can just replace one with the other. You understand that?"

"Sure" the man said.

"Okay" Light said "If you can inform everybody there what I said, then everything will be fine. Did you start recording my message as soon as you heard my voice?"

"Yes" the man said. "Just to make sure people knew you called."

"Then everything will be fine" Light said. "Goodbye."

It was then that Misa woke up for a minute to simply ask Light a question.

"Did you mean it when you said you would kill everyone at Sakura TV?" Misa asked

"No… actually that was just a bluff" Light stated. "As much as I don't want to, I will kill Demigawa if this is not successful. But, I think doing so might hurt my reputation."

Then Light thought, "Not like my reputation hasn't already been hurt. If my father or anyone of the Task Force finds out I'm Kira, then I don't how my life would move on."

The following day Light woke up to hear the news that Demigawa had been fired and Kira's Kingdom was going to be replaced with a reboot. "Phew" Light said "I didn't have to kill anyone. I guess I'll just rely on threats from now on."

* * *

A few hours later though Light heard the news that would help him start a new direction afterwards. It was the news that police all over Japan were going to interview the friends of the supposed Kira victim Sayu Yagami, to see if her death really was a suicide or not.

"Dammit to hell" Light responded with his body shaking "If they get to interview the friends who knew Sayu the most, than I am doomed. Revealing Sayu's death to be caused by Kira would lead them directly to me. I know that Sayu would never commit suicide in that kind of situation. She was strong and she could move on from that. Damn, I should have died instead of her because I wouldn't be in this situation if I didn't kill her. But if I kill all her friends they will suspect it is Kira again and it could lead them to me."

"Light" Misa responded. "Kira must survive, so you should what you can to make sure he survives."

"Misa" Light said. "It doesn't matter who is Kira. Kira is a mere symbol to everybody else. To me it is another personality I don't want to take over. I am human not a monster, but should I kill all of Sayu's friends, they all are on the same social networking website that Sayu was on for the last 3 years of her life and none of them are going by their aliases so…"

It was at that time that Light stopped, his eyes went from nervous to emotionless. He went through the website and got the names of all 50 friends Sayu had from those years in school. Sayu never had any friends until she went to school. She was pretty lonely the first 5 years of her life. After Light remembered all the names, he wrote all 50 of them with a cause of death so they would all disappear to locations where nobody would ever find their bodies. This took at least 10 minutes to do. Light looked like he was brainwashed as he was doing it as if Kira was really taking over him but without emotion. After all the names were written Light sat for a moment and then very slowly he walked to the bed and then fell on it. It was at that time that Light was crying into the pillow with nothing but grief. Was he regretting it?

"Light" Misa asked. "Are you all right?"

"Why should you ask, Misa?" Light answered in a sad tone "There is no future for me after this."

"Made you feel didn't it" Misa said "But that is how I felt after I killed someone for the first time. We all move on from it"

"So?" Light questioned "Would you move on realizing that you just killed your friend?"

"WHAT!" Misa stated.

"They were all innocent, every one of them" Light said in an angry but sad tone. "Never committed a crime, never wanted anything but to live a happy life. Their age ranged from 14 to 25. She even made new friends when she revisited the old schools. I just made about 36 families cry today all to keep myself alive. Some of them were even my friends that I hadn't seen for quite a while and now will never see again. They are all dead because of me"

"Light you must move on!" Misa yelled

"Yeah and continue crossing lines to keep myself alive… no" Light responded. "This is the last straw. After killing Sayu and after killing all of them I don't think anyone would like me anymore."

"Than if you are going to continue", Misa said, "Slow down… that is what you have been obsessing about ever since you killed Sayu. I still need my knight in shining armor Light. Please."

"She still needs me" Light thought. "I still want a perfect world to be made, maybe the end can still justify the means. But my conscience never wanted me to go down this path, but with an act like this, I am closer to being the brutal ruler Kira than I have been. Maybe I can make an agreement with the two. According to my conscience I have been walking the path of the villain. Maybe I can walk the path between him and Kira, but I don't know what my conscience will think of me now. He was already angry at me for killing Sayu. Killing Sayu is a path too far, killing all these people is a path too far. Maybe I can take a lighter path than the path I've been going. But this feeling, I don't think I'll ever get rid of it."

"Okay" Light said. "I'll talk to them later today."

Light then went to the living room, but not without a response from Misa.

"Wait Light" Misa responded "Talk to who?" but Light ignored her.

"Kimi Saito, Goro Maki, Kei Kato, Akio Yoshida, Eiji Kato, Jun Kishi, Shinji Aki, Megumi Domen, Sadao Aki, Raiden Yagi, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" Light said quietly in a really depressed tone. For the rest of the day he would be nothing but down but probably worse than he felt when he killed Sayu. He really did it, this was the point of no return, he marked the graves of many innocent people today including many of which he knew and loved. He always wanted to be the hero, but this, this wasn't heroic at all.

* * *

Near was spending time in another NPA Headquarters playing with his legos when he heard the news.

"Near", Giovanni said in an exhausted tone, "I just heard news that everybody on the list to be interviewed about Sayu in the next few days just mysteriously disappeared."

"That is unfortunate" Near said "How do you know?"

"I heard reports of parents being worried sick about their children and when we connected the dots they were all parents to the friends Sayu had online" Giovanni said.

"Keep this info up" Near said "It will be helpful for the case. I suspect that Kira killed them to save himself like he killed Sayu earlier. I have the location for Light Yagami. He is in east Kanto, in fact the hotel he is staying at is closer to his house than we originally suspected."

"What do you want us to do?" Giovanni said. "Kira needs to be caught ASAP."

"You guys have to still work out your deal so we can purge Japan of Kira supporters" Near said. "Mello is getting a room with Matt at an apartment close to the hotel Light is staying at. I even paid for his reservation. He will be investigating Light and Kira as soon as he can add hidden security camera to that area. He was really interested in putting up those cameras."

"Near", said Halle as she walked in "I heard that"

"Halle", Giovanni said grabbing her, "He already knows."

"Okay" Halle said "So Near, I guess you are holding Japan hostage until you can lay your trap on Kira."

"Yes" Near said "Kira was holding the world hostage. Well that means I am going to hold him hostage. In the end, he is nothing more than a criminal"


	8. Two Worlds

_**Chapter Seven – Two Worlds**_

* * *

Two figures stood in front of Light, one stern the younger version of himself and, another happy, the older evil version known as Kira. Surprisingly, Light's conscience was rather calm compared to the previous time they met.

"You are probably very angry at what I just did today, Light, but I have to say I am sorry" said Light.

"Sorry won't cut it you son of a bitch" said Light's conscience. "Just when I thought you would move forward you take two steps back. How do you explain yourself?"

"I am trying to do what is right and…" Light said.

"Do you think that killing Sayu is right? Do you think killing all her friends is right? I want answers now" Light's conscience said. He was starting to get the attitude Light was expecting.

"No they weren't and I am seeing the consequences" Light said "Things were better before L and the Wammy House came in. It was a lot easier"

"You dug yourself into this hole simply because you couldn't prevent yourself from killing Lind L. Taylor, on live television as well" said Light's conscience.

"He was a common criminal" Light yelled. "Even L said he was."

"Then why did you kill him for disagreeing with you?" said Light's conscience. "If you were going to kill him you should have just killed him for being a criminal, after the broadcast."

"I have been trying to remedy the problem ever since I started it. It is my fault too" Light said.

"Then you took the wrong direction to remedy it. The reason you're in this hole in the first place is because you always took the wrong way of remedying it" Light's conscience said. "If you simply ignored them from the start than maybe you would have been better off."

"They were threats you two" Kira said. "If they weren't eliminated I would be dead."

"He has a point, Light" Light said. "If I didn't kill them, I would be dead."

"Light, the reason you're in this hole in the first place is because you eliminated them" Light's conscience said "I also told you to call me your conscience"

"Yeah", Light said "but calling you Light makes it easier for me to talk to you guys, Light and Kira, it works" Light said.

"You have no right to kill any innocents" Light's conscience said. "Don't you understand that?"

"Yeah", Light said "based on my recent actions"

"Recent actions" Light conscience yelled. "You have been killing innocent for the past six years, Raye, Naomi, L, Aiber, Wedy, the remaining Yotsuba group. The main reason I have been against you is because you have broken almost all the morals I once stood for. You're a cop killer and those are some of the worst criminals."

"Then which direction should I choose? I want a better world, so I don't think I can go in your direction, but I don't want to be a brutal dictator so I can't go in Kira's direction" Light said. "changing Kira has been what I have been thinking make people think he isn't that bad of a guy."

Light's conscience stopped and then he was quiet, he understood what Light was going through so he went to a more caring manner.

"Light, I understand what you are going through. You are broken. This was just like after you killed Korou Otoharada and Takuo Shibuimaru" Light conscience said.

"You remember them?" Light said quietly

"I remember everybody you killed" Light's conscience said. "We have been watching you for the past 6 years. I have been trying to prevent you from following Kira's path for a long time, it wasn't until you killed Sayu that you awakened me. For the past 6 years your mind has been twisted to follow Kira's path, I was never able to really contact you because you ignored me all together. We may be hallucinations to you but we are really your angel and devil. In fact, the only good thing to come out of you killing Sayu is that you awakened me. If she didn't die and something else happened like your father dying under different circumstances, it may cause you to question your actions for a few hours, but not enough to turn you around. At least killing Sayu made you aware of your actions for the first time since 2006."

"Just what am I going through again" Light said. "You said it related to the first two people I killed."

"When you first killed Korou Otoharada and Takuo Shibuimaru," Light's conscience said, "You questioned for actions realizing that you had just murdered two people. It was then that you began to think that the Death Note could be used for good saying that people who make the world rot deserve to die. You started your goal then but you had some trouble with it. You were mixed on whether you should do it or not as you thought you didn't have the guts and you still felt guilty. It wasn't until the Death Note started taking affect five days later and started to corrupt you that you turned into the thing you have been for the past 6 years, except for the time you willingly lost your memory. You have been going through an identity crisis, stuck between many paths because you are feeling that your actions are immoral again, going against what you stood for. You were never willing to kill a family member as you care about them so much. Your father helped you want to become a police detective and Sayu was your moral pet, a person you always cared about. You loved and cared for your family so much that killing one of them broke you. I am Light, I am a path that represent absolute incorruptible goodness. You have been trying to walk the path between us and Kira is nothing but pure evil. The identity crisis you are going through is worse than the previous one which is why you are still in your stalemate."

"Than what direction should I go in?" Light said "What is the direction of absolute redemption?"

"That was the direction I want you to go in" Light's conscience said "Because of how evil you have become, the only way to redeem yourself is to admit you were wrong about everything you did, regret it and die in the process."

"DIE!" Light yelled. "You want me to die? No I can never go in that direction."

"You used to be a loving and caring child Light" Light's conscience said. "But now you are just a monster. You are not a hero and you haven't been one for a long time"

"Then tell me when I was a hero" Light said.

"Okay, I will" Light's conscience said

It was then that the image of Light's conscience changed to a 10 year old version of Light. He even had the same voice Light had at that age.

"Remember 13 years ago, when you foiled an armed robbery?" Light's conscience said.

"Yes… Yes I do. That was when I decided to go in the direction of my father" Light said.

"Yes and what you did that day was heroic" Light's conscience said "You were willing to stand up to a criminal that was about to steal a lady's purse. You were reckless but you had a strong sense of justice. You got rewarded for what you did, people loved you, your father, Matsuda, Aizawa, Sayu. That was when you were the hero of the day."

"I always wanted to do good" Light said "Even that criminal couldn't take that desire away from me"

"And it didn't" Light's conscience said. He turned back into the 17 year old version of Light. "The first two times you used the Death Note were for absolute heroism, you saved many lives. There are some people in the world I could live without but I didn't want to become a murderer."

"And then I changed my direction" Light said in an apologetic tone.

"Yes you did" Light's conscience said "You started killing criminals to help create a perfect world. That was extremist and I would have never allowed that. From then on you got worse. You then chose to also rule the world as well as create your new world order. You started killing petty criminals. You killed people who disagreed with you. You killed people who were in your way. You killed people who were no longer useful and now you have killed your friends and family. You have fallen Light, from the heroic character you used to be"

"I did this for everyone" Light yelled "I said that from the start."

"Light", Light's conscience said, "from how far you have fallen, you only care about yourself. You have been doing this for personal gain almost as far back as you were doing this for good intentions. The path to hell is paved through good intentions. Adolf Hitler had good intentions, that doesn't make up for him being pure evil."

"He is right" Light thought. "I have been using people as tools for such a long time. Misa, never cared about her. Task Force, with the exception of my father, never cared about them and even the new Kira spokesperson, I didn't care which one they picked when it should have always been my friend from college Takada. I have abandoned all my friends for this goal, ignored my family. They are just as human as I am. I need to talk to Misa after this, Is she just like me?"

"Light, Light, Light" said Kira "Why are you listening? You have never gotten this far before, you should never turn back"

"Then why do I feel so lonely?" Light thought "I have been a recluse for the past 6 years. I am not the person I used to be."

"Light", Light's conscience said, "Everybody you killed after your first five days but before you killed Sayu, gave you nothing but satisfaction, being happy that you had just killed them. You have not just been doing villainous acts, you have been acting like a villain as well. You have made people feel pain before they died, Naomi especially. My path is the only path you should be thinking about… Light… Light."

"Sorry guys but I am done for today" Light said. "I need to see Misa, she understands me as well."

"Before you leave Light", Light's conscience said, "I want to tell you something."

"What is it?" Light said

*****"Madness is like gravity Light, it just needs a little push" Light's conscience said "The Death Note pushed you over the edge and you fell off the slope you once stood on"

"Thanks for your words Light" Light said. "I will make myself better… my way."

It was then that Light left the room. He understood those two now. His conscience would be talking a lot to get him to go in one direction while Kira would only talk a little and try to tempt him in another direction. He didn't know what direction to go in, but he didn't want to go in the direction that his conscience told him about. He didn't want to die. He had become broken but he didn't lose the will to live. All he knew is that the direction he wanted to go in was better than where he previously was.

"Light", Misa responded "who were you talking too?"

"Myself" Light said in a half truth. "Misa, I want you to do something."

"And what is it?" Misa said

"Only kill the criminals you know can't be redeemed" Light spoke. "We shouldn't be killing minor criminals if we know they will probably be rehabilitated. Killing more major criminals is the better option. They don't regret their crimes so they deserve to die for truly making the world rot."

"But the crime rate might go up if we do" Misa said

"It might" Light said. "But it still is a hell of a lot better than what I have been doing for the past 6 years."

"Okay" Misa said. "I will do it."

* * *

Aizawa was at restaurant at the moment. He had just heard the news that about 50 people went missing and he was in a depressed mood. He was on his fourth Frapuccino and he was starting to get suspicious of Light's recent activity.

It was then that Matsuda arrived to Aizawa's location. "You heard the news" Matsuda replied.

"Yeah" Aizawa said in a depressed tone "Kira has been saying that he wanted to make a better world but by the way things have been, I think he has only made the world worse."

"I know that Kira should be brought to justice" Matsuda said "But I can't help but agree with a few things he has said."

"Do you agree with mass murder?" Aizawa answered.

"No" Matsuda said in a sad tone.

"Then you shouldn't agree with Kira" Aizawa said. "I have had to be away from my family for such a long time because of this case and it has been going nowhere for the past 5 years. I can't help but be suspicious that Light is Kira."

"No" Matsuda yelled. "Don't say that."

"Can't I just be suspicious?" Aizawa said.

"Shuichi, Light has been our leader for the past 5 years. He took up that position ever since L died, and he was worthy of that position like L said" Matsuda responded. "Sure we haven't found Kira yet, but don't give up on Light. The chief hasn't and neither should we"

"Matsuda" Aizawa responded, *****"you know that Ernest Hemingway once wrote that 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.'"

"Yes" Matsuda responded "So?"

*"I agree on the second part" Aizawa responded "The world will never be fine and Kira doesn't realize that, we don't realize it either. We put ourselves on a stupid case hoping to help the world and we haven't done anything for the last 5 years."

"It will be solved eventually" Matsuda answered back.

"Yeah" Aizawa said "But in the meantime, Near has taken control of most police forces in Japan and he has blamed not just Sayu's death but the death of all her friends on Kira. I don't know what side to believe anymore."

"I still have faith in Light" Matsuda said. "The 13 day rule elimates the chance that he is Kira."

"Maybe" Aizawa said "But what if that rule is fake?"

"Don't say that" Matsuda responded

"It is just a possibility" Aizawa said. "We will not know the truth until the case is over."

"Yeah" Matsuda said. He saw three other Frapuccino cups "But you are on your fourth Frappucino, maybe you should calm down. Things aren't as bad as you make them out to be."

"Matsuda you idiot" Aizawa responded "You know I am not sensitive to caffeine. The only reason I don't eat that much of it is for health reasons."

"Then you can stop today" Matsuda responded. "That is much too much for one morning."

"It's okay, Touta" Aizawa responded. "It is not that bad."

* * *

Back at the suite Light and Misa were doing the usual. Life had been easier since they were away from the Task Force. Light was under less stress in keeping his secret safe now that he was away. He didn't have to tell them all the lies he was sick of telling. Light was looking up names and giving them to Misa. It was then that Light stopped and his eyes turned apologetic.

"Why did you stop?" Misa asked "You told me we would be killing all the major criminals. You've never stopped so suddenly in the middle of your job."

"Misa" Light responded "I never asked you this but can you tell me about your parents."

Misa's eyes were shocked. She never thought she would stop killing people for this. Light had been acting differently ever since he killed Sayu but she never expected him to ask this question. He never asked her this when they first met and hadn't asked her this before.

"I told you… Kira is a hero to me because he avenged my parents murder" Misa said.

"Yeah", Light responded calmly, "I know."

"I never told you why I loved my parents so much" Misa responded. "It was more than most people… I will tell you, but I need some time to think about this"

"Okay" Light said as Misa went to the bed to think. In the meantime Light would be writing the names she missed.

* * *

***Quote inspired by The Dark Knight**

***Quote inspired by Se7en **


	9. Victim Of Changes

_**Chapter Eight – Victim Of Changes**_

* * *

Mello and Matt were up in their apartment that day. They had a good view of the hotel, Light and Misa were staying in. The view of the place was pretty good because they were on the top floor. Mello was hacking into the hotel system to see how he could get into Light and Misa's room without trouble. Matt was playing his Gameboy as usual and then Mello asked him a question he never asked before.

"Hey Matt", Mello said, "Do want any of my chocolate?"

"Mello" Matt responded in an upbeat way "You have never offered me any of your chocolate before."

"I ordered too much for today" Mello said. "If I ate anymore I would get sick."

"Maybe later" Matt said. "You should slow down on those, you eat like eight bars a day."

"Yeah", Mello said, "I know" Then he looked out the window, "That building is where Yagami is staying. Once we can get all the security cameras up and connect them, we can see what Yagami is doing from the outside."

"Why couldn't you guys just put the cameras inside the building where Light would be doing his activities?" Matt asked.

"The problem is that the last time that happened, L failed to get evidence that Light was Kira" Mello answered. "By doing it on the outside, we cannot just look for suspicious behavior but we can know when Light enters and exits the hotel."

"I know you're planning on investigating Light" Matt said.

"I am also planning on using that Death Note to prove that the 13 day rule we were told about was bullshit" Mello answered.

"Why don't you just get people to see the Death Notes Light and Misa have?" Matt said "Wouldn't that be enough proof?"

"The idea is to prove that Light and Misa are Kira without a shadow of a doubt" Mello said. "That is why Near is trying to lure Light out, so we can catch Kira without him having any chance at escape".

"My method wouldn't take as much time though" Matt answered.

"Your method involves a lack of proof" Mello said. "The timing doesn't matter, it is catching Kira that matters. We need a Venus fly trap for Kira and nothing else"

Then Mello thought "Near, your deals with the police forces got to work, it could be the only way of taking down Kira once and for all."

"Got it" Mello said

"What" Matt answered

"I got the suite that Light and Misa are staying in. Now all I need is to find the security code and I can enter that room whenever I please" Mello said.

"Don't rush" Matt answered. "I am having too much fun playing this game."

"I won't" Mello answered. "It might take till the end of the day to figure out this code."

The two wouldn't be leaving the apartment for quite a while but they knew the time to investigate Light and Misa would be soon. Everything just had to be set up correctly.

* * *

Back at the suite, Light was done writing names. He didn't even look at the names he wrote after he was done, he just put the Death Note away. It was then that he started waiting for Misa, who was still thinking about her parents who were taken away from her many years ago. Then she spoke.

"Light" Misa spoke.

"Yes Misa" Light said in a nice manner.

"I am ready to tell you about my parents" Misa said.

"Okay" Light answered.

"The reason it was very hard to move on without them and the reason why I was so satisfied when Kira killed their murderer, is because they cared for me more than anybody else" Misa explained.

"My parents have always cared about me" Light replied "They have cared for my safety and well being for a long time. Back when I was younger, I was very reckless but I had a strong sense of justice. When I was able to stop an armed robbery, my father cared about my safety at the time and while he appreciated the good deeds I did, he always cared if I was in any real danger. In some ways the Yotsuba case was the first time I ever really started going into the danger zones of being a police detective. In many ways I miss those days where it truly felt I was close to people."

"Your parents cared about you" Misa replied. "But not as much as my parents."

Misa continued talking. "A lot of parents are hesitant about their child's future. They don't know what they want their son or daughter to do. When my parents were still alive, they weren't hestitant about my future at all. They tried to get my dream to come true. My father had a lot of money from the business he worked in and I was the only child they had. I could say they never really wanted much except a happy life for both me and themselves. I had always been into J-Pop and for a long time I had wanted to be an actress. I was adored at the schools that I went to and it was a school that never had a bullying problem. Have you ever had a bullying problem?" Misa questioned.

"We had Sudou in high school" Light answered "But he never really went after me, he was wasn't even jealous about my high level grades."

"I could just say that I pretty much had the perfect childhood" Misa replied "My parents would have set my life up to be a complete success had they not died, and when they did, my childhood was shattered. I never really told you about my life before I got the Death Note and only really mentioned my parents a few times. They didn't just give me opportunities they never pushed me too far away and,they always helped me when I had problems."

Misa started crying "You blame yourself for killing your sister, well I can't help but blame myself for my parents death. It was nighttime and we were walking back home. It was that day that I forgot to bring my cell phone back from the restaurant so we had to go back. We were so close to home and it would have been a better idea to go back later for them after they put put it into the lost and found, but I was so desperate that night. They told me to be quick when I went back into the restaurant. I got my cell phone from the restaurant and then I heard a gunshot outside. I arrived outside to see my parents on the ground mortally wounded, and the killer disappeared into the night. I was around many people at the time and my parents died right in front of my eyes. I hated that day. I wanted that killer dead. In some ways it is both of our faults." Misa broke down completely after that and Light had to hold her.

"You never told me this before" Light said "But now I understand why you worship me so much. It is to strike vengeance on those who took your parents away and could take others away anytime. You are more similar to me than I thought. We were both desensitized by all the crime and injustice that it led us on this path. Whether it will be worth it in the end I don't know but I can now understand that you have been suffering longer than I have. It is hard to live with this stuff, and now I know it"

That is when the conversation ended and Light decided to relax in his bed. He could finally understand Misa now. She wasn't a tool or anything like that. She was just as human as he was and had been dealing with similar problems. In the end they were both broken souls due to the paths they had taken their lives and they were both trying to move on from the tragedy they committed in their family. Light's tragedy was intentional but he really regretted doing it. Misa's tragedy was unintentional but she still struck out in vengeance. Light never cared about Misa before but now he did. He still didn't love her but he could understand her and see through her eyes. In some ways she reminded him of Sayu and in other ways he could see her as the victim as well. Light was starting to think he was the victim and he couldn't help but relate it to Misa. It was then that Light asked her a question.

"Misa", Light said "If I died, could you still move on without me?"

Misa reacted harshly to this. "No… I couldn't" she yelled. "You are the person who found me and gave me a purpose. You are the person who has given me a family to be with. Most importantly you are the person I have always looked up to. You can't die so soon. I still need you."

"Oh Okay" Light said and then he stopped talking.

Light realized it now. He is the only person Misa can rely on and he cares for her life now. Not because she is a asset but because she was a broken soul like he had recently become. He was being abusive to her for the past 5 years and now it was going to stop. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her as a person. She had to live on. She had to.

It was then that Light told Misa something.

"Misa" Light said

"What Light?" Misa asked

"From now on, it will be about you" Light answered. "Tomorrow, we can go out and do the things you want to do. I care about you as a person Misa and I have realized that I haven't exactly been the best boyfriend. So from now on, I will make up for it."

"Oh Light" Misa hugged Light. "That is wonderful"

"Yeah" Light said. "It will be fun."

Be Misa's boyfriend, well for the past 5 years he had only been acting like it but from now on he was really going to be a friend to Misa, maybe not a boyfriend, but a friend friend. Light couldn't help feel that Misa truly was a friend to him now and he was going to give it his all.

The following day Light let Misa sleep in for as long as she could. Today was going to be her day. He was planning on going out shopping with Misa as well as going out to lunch. All the kills for today would be planned in advance. Misa woke up around 9:30 AM, about 2 hour after Light and Light made her breakfast. Knowing Misa's diet, Light tried his best to make her favorite breakfast in the small kitchen. Light also told Misa that she could choose all the places they would go to. Misa did still have a schedule to kill criminals about an hour after they were done with all this.

Light and Misa left the suite at about 11:00 AM for the date they would go on.

* * *

It was then that Mello snuck into the hotel from the back. He took every opportunity to make sure he could be as stealthy as possible. He was on the first floor. Light and Misa's room was on the fifth floor.

"Okay" Near said through the headphones Mello was wearing "This hotel isn't very busy during this hour so I think you will be able to get that Death Note paper, (if there is any), without much help."

"And if I get caught?" Mello questioned

"I will make sure you have security clearance next time, so it doesn't happen again" Near answered.

"You just want me to take one piece of Death Note paper" Mello said.

"It is important if we are going to discover if the 13 day rule is real or not. So don't fail me." Near said.

"I won't" Mello said "And besides I can take out security without anybody getting injured."

Mello took the elevator that was used the least to get to the fifth floor. It was then Mello found the number for the room Light and Misa were living in. The number was 546.

"Okay", Mello thought, "Now it is time to use this fake card as access into the room"

"Mello", Near said, "you got to hurry, I found the schedule for this hotel and this floor gets mopped at 12:30 PM."

It was then that Mello entered the room. "Don't worry Near" he said "I'm in."

Mello saw the room. It was empty. He also saw that the living room and bathroom were locked. "I guess this is the bedroom" Mello thought.

It was then that he searched the desks one by one until he found the Death Note. "Not a good hiding spot" Mello commented.

"Mello you have to get that paper without leaving a mark" Near commented. "They might notice it."

"It's okay" Mello said. "It is already out."

"Okay, now get out and return to your apartment" Near said "We'll discuss what we'll do with that paper when you return."

"Okay" Mello responded.

There wasn't any communication afterwards as Mello snuck his way out of the hotel.

"The security cameras are almost done" Mello commented "After that we can spy on Yagami"

"Mello", Near said, "You'll have to make repeated visits here. It is important for us to take down Kira."

"Okay" Mello answered. "But don't go crying to me if it fails."

"Or I'll be dead" Near responded. "Whichever comes first."

* * *

*****"Oh hi doggie" Light said as he was petting the dog at the pet store. He missed the dog his family used to have. They put the dog down when he was about 12 years and he has missed that dog ever since. He was petting the dog nicely through the cage when these happy memories returned to him.

"Hey Light, aren't they cute?" Misa asked.

Light came over to see a cage of hamsters. They were all very cute and Light smiled at Misa's happiness. "They are very cute Misa" he replied. "You could pick one out if you wanted to."

"Oh Light you are the greatest" Misa said. "I will get one with a wheel."

"And I will buy the food" Light responded.

After Light got what Misa wanted, they both went to the counter.

"How much?" Light asked.

"11773 Yen" the storeowner answered.

"Then we'll take it" Light answered.

"You guys really seem to like this place" the storeowner said.

"Yeah", Light answered. "Shopping for my pet was part of my childhood."

It was then that Light and Misa left the store. They hadn't named the hamster yet so Light asked her.

"So what are you going to name him?" Light asked "I was thinking of Wiz or Rosebud."

"How about Hamtaro or Maxwell?" Misa asked "He seems to be really adventurous in the cage."

"Either of those would be fine" Light said with a smile.

"How about Hamtaro Maxwell?" Misa said. "It's got a ring to it."

"It sure does" Light answered.

After pet shopping Light and Misa went shopping for clothes. Light actually bought some clothes for himself. He was tired of wearing the business suit he had to wear ever since he became a detective. He chose some shirts and pants. The shirts were similar to the ones he wore during the Yotsuba case and the pants were the cargoes he usually wore.

Misa was searching for clothes that had the same flare her old clothes had but were a bit different. It was here that she got noticed.

"Hey it is Misa Misa" replied a man

"Can I get your autograph?"asked a woman.

"One at a time okay" Misa said nervously. It was then that she got surrounded by many fans.

"Can you sign the DVD for the movie you made with Hideki Ryuga?" asked a man

"Can I get my picture with you?" said a lady.

"Can I touch your butt?" said a college graduate.

It was at that moment that Light arrived on the scene. "Get away from her" Light said. "She's mine."

"Yeah Light show them" Misa cheered as she was carried away.

"Did you get what you wanted" Light responded.

"Yeah" Misa. replied "I can show you."

"That's great" Light said. "But I think the place you chose wasn't the best idea."

"Don't worry Light" Misa said. "I can handle them."

"Well at least they think I'm your boyfriend" Light said. "Or they would never go away."

"You got something" Misa replied seeing the clothes Light was carrying.

"Yeah" Light said. "I'll be wearing these until I return to the Task Force, they are more comfortable than that business suit."

Light and Misa bought the clothes they needed to buy and then they went to a restaurant. It was a Chinese restaurant. Light and Misa had Chinese food before, both the Chinese and American versions. Light always ordered hot &amp; sour soup and pepper steak, his favorite since he was 10. Misa ordered wanton Soup and egg fu young. It was one of the few American Chinese restaurants in Kanto. Light and Misa both preferred the American version to the Chinese version.

Before Light and Misa returned to the hotel, Light bought a normal notebooks at the bookstore to write in. Light felt it was time to write about how he felt about Misa in those notebooks and they would be what he feels about her now, not what he felt about her then.

* * *

After the date, Light and Misa returned to the hotel suite they were stayed in. Both were resting for some time. In about an hour Light would give Misa her Death Note so she could do the killings for the day.

"Thanks Light" Misa said. "That was great."

"Yeah, I had fun too" Light responded. He really felt happy for Misa and he hoped that the happiness would continue. He cared about Misa a lot ever since she told him about her past and now her life was just as important as his life. It was then that Light took out the Death Note and noticed something.

"Misa" Light said

"What?" Misa responded

"One of the pages in this notebook has a mark in it" Light said. "I think someone has been in here."

* * *

***Quote taken from _The Room_**


	10. And Justice For All

_**Chapter Nine - …And Justice For All**_

* * *

Mello returned to the apartment to be greeted by Matt, who was very happy for some reason. Mello decided to go sit back down and look at the paper he had taken from Light and Misa. Matt knew it was Death Note paper when he saw it, but he asked anyway.

"So", Matt asked, "what is so special about that piece of paper you brought in?"

"It is Death Note paper" Mello said. "I took it from Light and Misa."

"Well I would believe it is Death Note paper if it had any criminal names on it" Matt answered. "So why didn't you get a page with names on it?"

"Matt", Mello answered, "Near wanted me to get a blank sheet of paper for him to write names on and besides if I got a paper with names on them, Light and Misa would have taken notice."

"Yeah… Yeah" Matt said. "I get it… but Death Note paper looks so much like normal everyday paper."

"Well the book had rules relating to how it works and how to kill people" Mello answered. "So it may as well be Death Note paper."

"So why is Near going to write names instead of you?" Matt asked.

"Near wants to see if the 13 day rule is real or not" Mello answered. "He is also the one with the power to scapegoat these kills on Kira so he is safe."

"That makes sense as long as he doesn't go insane doing it. Than he is fine" Matt answered.

"It won't" Mello said. "If that thing corrupts its user than it corrupts people with weak wills. Near and I, we have strong wills, so I don't think anything will happen to us."

"Well if it goes the other way", Matt answered, "I can say that I am happy that I am not involved in this case."

"Yeah" Mello replied. "Hey Matt, why were you so excited when I came back?"

"Well" Matt answered "I just completed the hardest level in this shoot em up. I died like a thousand times before I was able to complete it. It was a lot of fun."

"Oh", Mello answered, "The usual."

"Live Die Repeat, Live Die Repeat" Matt chanted. "I wish life was more like video games. There we have extra lives."

"Matt", Mello said, "that is just a hopeless dream"

"Well" Matt said. "It is my dream."

* * *

Near had scheduled with Mello to meet him at the NPA headquarters tonight to discuss what the future plans would be. Near also wanted Mello to bring him the piece of Death Note paper he requested. But for Mello, it would be quite a while before he could go there. So he simply decided to relax in his apartment.

That night at about 9:00 PM, Mello arrived at the NPA headquarters Near was in charge of. He took the elevator to the top floor. He was greeted by Halle and Giovanni.

"So", Halle asked, "did you bring the paper?"

"Yes" Mello answered. "I did." He showed them the piece of Death Note paper.

"Well then you are free to go except for one thing" Halle said.

"What is it?" Mello asked.

"We have to check if you brought any weapons like you did last time you met Near here" Giovanni said. "Don't worry, it is a quick check."

"Huh, Okay" Mello answered.

The weapons check took about a minute and then Mello was free to go.

"Okay" Giovanni said. "You can go in."

"Why did you do this?" Mello asked.

"To make sure you didn't scare people like the last time you were here" Halle answered. "Now go in. Near wants to see you."

It was then that Mello entered the room Near was working in. At the same time Giovanni commented on the occasion.

"Mello made pretty good time" Giovanni said "Had he come earlier, Near would still be in the middle of his seafood dinner."

"Yeah" Halle said "He eats very little other than seafood. Well at least he doesn't eat his toys, that would be disgusting."

Back in the room Near was working in,Mello started the conversation.

"So I came here to discuss what the plan is" Mello said.

"Yeah" Near replied. "But first can you give me the piece of Death Note paper you brought in?"

"Yeah… Okay" Mello replied and then the paper was taken by Near.

"So what is the plan?" Mello said.

"Operation Oxymandias" Near replied "There are many steps to this plan. I thought is up as early as the time Sayu died but it didn't come to me until Light and Misa left the Task Force"

"So what is it" Mello responded

"The plan is to distract Kira enough with purging Kira supporters that Kira would fall into our trap when he finally goes back to the Task Force" Near said.

"So you are going to whack anybody who supports Kira" Mello answered.

"Not whack, purging is a bit different" Near said. "If they are a casual Kira supporter, a short time in prison will do. If they work for Kira, they will be given a life sentence. It will all be based on how much of a threat they are."

"And you want me to continue investigating Yagami?" Mello asked.

"You got the keep checking up on the Death Note until I am ready to pull the rug under Kira" Near said. "When it is time, I will tell you what to do."

"So you are basically going to write the names of criminals I guess" Mello said. "To see if the 13 day rule is real or not."

"Yes" Near said "The security cameras should be up and working by tomorrow. By then I will write those names and scapegoat them on Kira. If I die in the next 13 days, then the investigation changes. If I don't, then Light is officially Kira in my eyes. Speaking of which, did you see any names in the notebook you looked at?"

"No" Mello answered "I turned to the back of the book to get the piece of paper, I didn't see any names."

"Well" Near answered. "That means we have to rely on this risk for evidence. I think we are done for the day. You got me the phone numbers for the Task Force's cell phones?"

"Yeah" Mello said. "You need them to arrange your meeting. So what is the meeting going to be about?"

"The possibility of Light being Kira" Near answered, "And Mello, you are not invited."

* * *

Back at the suite, Light was writing down criminal names for Misa while Misa was hanging out. It was a truly happy time for Misa, especially the fact that Light had turned around from how he usually had been to her. He really felt like her boyfriend now and not just pretending to be.

Even though Light was writing criminal names, he didn't look at the names at all when he was writing them and completely forgot about the criminal after he was done. For him, it felt a little bit better doing this, as he had a lot of pain writing people's name when he saw the name of the person he killed. Misa was eating pizza at the time and Light was sharing it with her.

It was at that time that Misa's cell phone rang and Nightmare's Alumina was heard from it.

"Hello Misa" called Matsuda in a worried tone. "Are you enjoying your time with Light?"

"Oh, hello Matsui" Misa responded. "Yeah I am having a great time, Light let me go shopping yesterday."

"That is great" Matsuda responded. "Hey Miss Amane, could you check up on Light for me, I am a bit worried about him."

"Yeah" Misa responded. "I will."

"Okay" Matsuda said. "I will see you later."

After the phone call was done Misa ate more pizza and then she decided to offer Ryuk a piece.

"Hey Ryuk" Misa said. "You want a piece?"

"Nah" Ryuk responded. "Unless it has apples on it, I would, but any other way, no thank you. What do you think I am a green haired lady?"

"No" Misa responded. "I haven't seen any green haired women."

"I have" Light said in a more cheerful manner. "I saw one on TV."

It was then that Misa laughed "Oh Light, you are the greatest"

It was then that the news turned to a recent story about the murder of 12 criminals.

"It has been reported that 12 murderers suddenly died of heart attacks at 12 AM" The reporter said. "It has also been reported that Kira is to blame for this"

"No" Light yelled "No, No No, I didn't kill any of the 12 of them. Those names aren't even in mine or Misa's notebooks. Whoever killed them must have been that person who touched the notebook yesterday. I mean I was minding my own business, sleeping then. I mean, they are murderers. I would kill them when I could but their names are not in mine or Misa's notebooks."

"Light are you okay?" Misa asked.

"Yeah" Light said calming down. "I just hate that lie that was told on TV."

* * *

That afternoon Light decided to go shopping for more food for the hamster. It was when he returned that he took notice of the differences. It was then that Light changed direction to the train station to think about how he would deal with it.

"Why did you stop?" Ryuk said. "You were almost back home."

"The place has never been so empty before. I was like the only one there" Light said. "I feel that that area was cleaned up so somebody could be spying. I feel I am being observed with security cameras again and I was taking the Death Note just in case but I didn't really have someplace to put it."

"Well how were you holding it?" Ryuk replied.

"The front was very close to my chest, so I think they could have mistaken it for something else, but from now on I will not be bringing the notebook outside again" Light said "I only did it so I could find names elsewhere. I never did that before and it looks like I will never be doing it again"

"So what is your plan?" Ryuk said

"I need someone who has a backpack for me to borrow to take it into the room I am staying at" Light said "The hotel has security cameras but me and Misa have always been able to avoid them when we can. Plus the rooms lack security cameras because it is a very safe hotel"

"I just need someone" Light said. It was then that he saw a figure with a business suit and glasses listening to a Sony Walkman. Light recognized him. He was Teru Mikami, an avid Kira supporter on television. Light decided he would get Mikami to deliver the Death Note for him.

Light decided to corner Mikami and get him to talk in the least populated place in the subway.

"Hey who are you?" Mikami asked.

"First… can you turn off the device" Light said "So we can talk and who are you listening to anyway?"

Light saw the description of the band and the song on the device.

マキシマムザホルモン - ルイジアナボブ  
Maximum the Hormone – Louisiana Bob

Mikami turned off the music and put the Sony Walkman away.

"Okay" Light said. "Now I get it. You are a huge fan of that band but I need you to do me a favor"

"What is it?" Mikami said.

"I need you to take this notebook and put it in your backpack and go to the fifth floor of the hotel where I am staying" Light said as he gave Mikami the location. "I am in room 546. If you can meet me at that room and give me my notebook back, than your duty is done"

"And why?" Mikami questioned "It is just a notebook."

Light decided to get the notebook out anyway to get it through Mikami's thick skull.

"Mikami I am Kira" Light said as he gave Mikami the Death Note. "This is my Death Note. This is how I kill people. Here are several names of criminals that I killed with this Death Note."

"Oh god" Mikami said. "I will do anything for you. You are like a god to me."

"Okay Mikami" Light said. "First don't call me god under any circumstances at anytime. Your gullibility could get me killed. Second, don't try to do anything with the notebook. Don't try to write anybody's name at all. Don't even open it. I am worried for your well being."

"Okay" Mikami said. "I will do it, for you."

"Understood" Light said. "I will meet you back at the suite, and Mikami don't do anything suspicious."

It was at that time that Light thought about Mikami "If he uses the Death Note even once, he could end up worse than how I was beforehand."

Teru Mikami and Light Yagami took different paths so nobody would know they were on the same side. Mikami acted like the well mannered attorney he was. His reason for being in the train station was different than Light's, but he knew he would have to lie about why he was late to his meeting anyway. He didn't listen to Maximum the Hormone at this time as it could be a distraction. The only thing he did was follow Light's orders. As far as he was concerned, he was doing god's bidding which made him very happy.

Light took the elevator to the fifth floor and Mikami took another elevator. At the door, they were able to make a deal.

"Light" Mikami said. "Take this, you need it. It's yours. I never thought that a random person could be so special to me, but now that I hear that you are Kira", Mikami bowed, "I am willing to do your bidding."

"Okay" Light said. "First you can give me that Death Note. You didn't write any names in it did you?"

"No I didn't" Mikami responded.

"Okay" Light said. "Here are the cellphone numbers for me and Misa just in case you need anything." Light gave Mikami the numbers. "Sorry Mikami but you can't work for me. You are too much of a danger to work for Kira. I will still be an ally for you, just in case. Take care. I will see you if I can."

"Goodbye Light" Mikami said and then he left.

Light then thought at the moment. "I probably don't need to use Mikami again. He was only needed for this and now I'll never bring my Death Note without a big backpack. I am fine."

That night at the hotel, someone checked in. He was around the same age as Light and had just gotten a room at the same floor as Light and Misa. His room was in fact close to Light and Misa's. He didn't see either of the two when he arrived though.

* * *

The follow morning, Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and Ide got a phone call.

_Hello Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and Ide, this is N. I am calling you guys to say that I have arranged for you four to meet me at the Yellow Box Warehouse tomorrow at 12:00 PM. Light and Soichiro are not invited. Light because this information isn't important to him and Soichiro because he is still trying to comfort his wife after the death of their daughter. This meeting will be about Kira and Kira alone and I don't want any of you four to miss it. I will give you guys the location of the Yellow Box Warehouse tomorrow. Don't miss this meeting no matter what. You got that._


	11. Guilty All The Same

_**Chapter Ten – Guilty All The Same**_

* * *

12:00 PM was the meeting time and the Task Force was well prepared for the occasion. Matsuda woke up early and Aizawa was the first one there. When all four had arrived, they went inside to see Near, Halle, Giovanni and Rester. Halle and Giovanni were guarding Near on both sides while Rester was in the back. The place was big but also damp and quite. It was the perfect place for this meeting.

"So" Aizawa said. "We are here Near."

"I thought he was going to look a bit older given that the picture we saw of him was made several years ago" said Matsuda.

"Hey" Halle said. "Don't criticize the age, criticize the person. Near is old enough the run this organization."

"Does that make him old enough to take over almost all of the Japanese Police Force?" Matsuda yelled.

"Well Light took control of the Task Force at merely 18" Near answered. "I think I'm old enough to take control of almost all of the Japanese Police."

"But why?" yelled Matsuda.

"You see" Near said. "There is a problem called Kira that I want to purge from the world and I can't do it without trapping Kira in the location he started in… Japan."

"And you told us you thought Kira killed Sayu" said Aizawa.

"Yes I told you that" Near said. "I want you guys to think about this. Why did Kira kill Sayu? Did he have a grudge against her? Was it a power struggle? Or did he kill her to save his own ass?"

"No" Matsuda yelled. "There is no way Light could be Kira, the 13 day rule prevents that."

"But what if the 13 day rule is false?" Near said.

"False?" Aizawa, Matsuda, Ide and Mogi questioned.

"Look, I am not saying Light is Kira" Near said. "We can't prove it until we have evidence without a shadow of a doubt. I just want to put this suggestion that Light is Kira into your head."

"Okay" Aizawa said. "Were listening."

"The reason for Kira killing Sayu and her friends makes a lot of sense you guys" Near said. "Kira is mostly known for killing criminals, but he has a reputation for killing people who disagree with him and people who are after him. I can tell you that Sayu's death was not a suicide and was actually a murder. Sayu was going to be traded for the Death Note but I feel Kira was in a stalemate at that time. Give Mello the Death Note and see what he could work from there or kill Sayu and avoid the conflict all together. That is why I am trying the 13 day rule right now. If I die in the next 12 days than Light is off the case. If I am still alive in the next 12 days, I want you guys to suspect Light as a possible candidate for being Kira, as he was L's number one suspect."

"I get why you didn't let Light come here" said Aizawa.

"But why not bring the chief?" said Matsuda.

"This information is basically the worst nightmare the chief can imagine, especially the thought that his son killed his daughter" Near said. "The reason I chose this warehouse was because it was the most anonymous place possible without dealing with the public."

"So you are just going to murder some people to justify your means" Mogi yelled suddenly. "That is going to extremes just for one case."

"I assure you it was only a test" Near said "Like how the first few murders Kira committed were just an experiment. I am planning on revealing all the police detectives Kira killed in hopes of ruining his reputation. Operation Oxymandias was one of my many plans to take down Kira and now it's the plan that is in motion."

"So you are basically going to break Light until he can come and he proves he isn't Kira" Matsuda yelled "Light has been working for us for many years. He can't be Kira."

"I am not saying he is Kira" Near said. "I am only saying that there is a high possibility that he is. Do you guys wonder why this case has gone nowhere for the past 5 years, how you guys haven't caught any Kira since Higuchi."

"Because Light is Kira?" Ide said.

"Because there could be a mole in your police force" Near said. "I will give you guys the message if the 13 day rule is false, but in the meantime, I just want you guys to have this thought in your head. Not saying Light is Kira, but we have to consider the possibilities. Okay this meeting is over. I will see you guys another day."

It was then that Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and Ide left the Yellow Box Warehouse in a more serious tone, now that this thought was in their head. Was Light Kira? If the 13 rule is false that would definitely reconsider the possibility. Why would Light kill Sayu anyway? These thoughts were deep in their minds. Was Light innocent or guilty? But for now they just had what Near said. Why would Near go to these extremes, even L wouldn't do such a thing.

"I can't believe it" Matsuda said. "Near is just framing Light like L did at the beginning of the case."

"Matsuda you idiot, L never really framed Light" Aizawa said. "He considered the possibility that Light was Kira, but it was Light that turned himself in just in case it was true."

"But Light wanted to get out. He was begging to. Why? because he wasn't Kira" Matsuda said. "And if he really was Kira, he would have killed his father during the mock execution."

"Look Matsuda" Aizawa said "Whether you want to believe Light is Kira or not is up to you. If we get his call that he survived after 13 days than we will reconsider the idea that Light is Kira. We may be wrong but we still have to consider the idea."

"It sounds like you want Light to be Kira, just like L" Matsuda said.

"Look Matsuda" Aizawa said in a caring tone. "I don't want Light to be Kira just like you. It is just that I am more keen to the possibility than you are. If Light is Kira, I will have to face the terrible truth in the same face value as you."

"Okay" Matsuda said starting to cry. "I can understand."

It was then that the task force split up for the rest of the day. They had to think about the information that was being given to them and if the 13 day rule was false, consider the possibilities. They all went back home for the day, the teams would regroup the day after.

* * *

Back at the suite Light and Misa were staying at they started to take notice of someone who was more active in their room than usual. In fact it was a bit distracting. Light and Misa were doing the usual with Light giving more opportunities to make Misa happy than he had ever done. He still had to make sure it kept in the budget of this case, so they wouldn't have any trouble once they returned to the Task Force.

In the other room, the young man was getting packages for the holidays that were coming in a month. He usually relaxed in his room but sometimes he peeked through the peep hole through the door to see what was going on. On his first full day there, he saw Light coming out of his suite to go shopping for more food.

"Light" the young man said quietly. "I haven't seen you for quite some time. I hope that time has changed both of us. I also wonder if Light would recognize me after about 6 years."

He saw Light giving a black notebook to Misa for the day.

"Misa" Light said. "I will have to go out for quite a bit for shopping. I am sorry I can't help you as much today, but I assure you that I will still be going out with you sometime very soon. I want you to be in charge of the notebook while I am gone. It is the only thing keeping me alive right now."

"That's fine, Light" Misa answered. "I don't want to much delicacies or I would get sick of them."

"I understand Misa" said Light and then he hugged her. "I will see you soon" he said as he left.

The man was confused at the site "What is that black notebook?" the man thought. "Why is Light with Misa Amane?" The man had to find out. He hadn't seen Light for quite a while and he really needed to know what Light was up to. He had to plan a time to sneak into Light's room to see what was going on. He would do so tonight when Light and Misa were having dinner.

For right now though, he had to wait. He decided to take the rest of the day for himself. He decided to go shopping for the lady he wanted to marry. He was relatively bored doing things only in the hotel, so he decided to go out for quite a bit.

During this time he would follow Light while he was out shopping to see if he could get any clues to why he was with Misa and why he had a completely black notebook. He followed Light to the grocery store to see Light get out his cell phone after he got a call from Teru Mikami.

"Hello Mikami" Light said "No I don't want us to meet that often if we do and no I don't want you to use the Death Note at all. It is very dangerous to you and I worry about you a lot. I don't want you to go insane or anything."

The call was from a pretty isolated place outside the grocery store. The man wondered "So is the Death Note, the black book he gave Misa this morning? How is it dangerous and what is this thing about insanity?" Now he really had to know about Light and Misa. What were they doing at this hotel?

He continued following Light until he decided to go to a local restaurant for lunch. Even then he had to pay attention to what Light was doing. It was then that he returned to his hotel room but not without paying attention to Light's movements.

He had had a history of sneaking into rooms, especially unlocking locked rooms. He had learned to do this during Middle School and he did it a lot during High School, but he never did it after he finally got caught in college. This was the first time he had been sneaking and stalking for quite a while but the weird things he saw investigating Light were interesting. He hadn't seen Light in a long time and the sight he saw through the window of the room he had in his hotel made him feel like he couldn't reintroduce himself yet. He wasn't even sure if Light would remember him at all. He thought Light was one of the coolest kids in high school, but Light had been such a recluse in his last year and a half there that he never got the opportunity to really interact with him. Light was always a high level student, but to him it seemed like Light was more focused on grades than being with people as a whole. He had a plan. Once he heard Light and Misa enter their living room he would use his card to unlock the lock through the side of the door and if that failed, he always had a key he made through a paperclip for the lock.

"Misa" Light said. "You can be done writing names for today. I made some sushi for dinner."

"That's great" yelled Misa as she entered the living room.

During dinner time, the man was able to sneak into the room "Now", he thought, "Where is the drawer he would put his Death Note in?" The man kept searching until he found the bottom drawer, where he saw the Death Note laying flat bottom on top. He quietly got the notebook out of there to read several names "I heard all these criminals die on TV recently" he thought as he was reading. "So does this mean Light is Kira or is he just keeping track of those killed by Kira? The notebook says Death Note, so is it a killing device or is he using a prank for his notebook?"

It was then that he saw Ryuk.

He stood there for a moment and then screamed. This got Light and Misa's attention immediately.

"Ah a journal monster" he yelled as he saw Light and Misa come in.

"Hey" Light yelled. "What is going on here? How did this guy get in here?"

"Light" Misa said "Calm down."

"Not until we can know if he is a danger or not" Light said.

The man calmed down as he was starting to piece together everything that was going on. Light was Kira, but what was his ghastly companion.

"I am not a journal monster" Ryuk said. "I am a Shinigami. I am someone who could take your life at any minute but if you don't mind" Ryuk said becoming playful again, "Can I have an apple?"

"Now I know what is going on" the man said "Light is Kira and Misa is his girlfriend."

The man then started to smile. "I never thought you would change so much after high school, Light. Do you remember who I am?"

It was then that Light thought back to high school he remembered that face, especially on the day he got the notebook himself. In fact he was one of the possible first choices he had to be a victim of the Death Note, just to see if it would work.

"Sudou Ikari, is that you? I haven't seen you since high school" Light said.

"Yeah" Sudou said. "I was going to say the same thing. I snuck in here to see about that notebook you had" he confessed. "I didn't know you were Kira until just now. I never went after you in high school because you were one of the most popular kids there but I never got the chance to properly communicate with you."

"Whose Sudou?" Misa asked.

"He was the bully that was at my high school" Light said "He never went after me, probably because of my grades. He was the jock there. He always went after the least popular kids but he was never truly popular himself."

"I stopped my bullying ways about 4 years ago" Sudou said "I felt if I wanted to move up in the world of Kira, I should not grow up to be those people who committed crimes. I am proud of you Light with the lower crime rate and there are no wars. I feel you have created a better society for all of us."

"I guess I have" Light said with the sad thoughts of all the innocent people he had killed in his head.

"Light could I be your friend?" Sudou said. "I never got the opportunity to."

These words enlightened Light. In his mind he only recently got a friendship with Misa and he remembered the friendship he had with L when he lost his memories. This was something the Death Note had taken away from him for such a long time, a genuine friendship. Light took Sudou's hand and got him to stand up.

"Does this mean you want to join Kira?" Light asked. He could still be friends with Sudou either way.

"Yes", Sudou said, "I would."

"Then I can be your friend" Light said hugging Sudou. It was then that he thought "I never had this opportunity before, but if Sudou is a Kira follower, I have to watch out for the dangers of him using the notebook."


	12. Hollow

_**Chapter Eleven – Hollow**_

* * *

"So why are you moving into our suite?" Light asked Sudou.

"I want to stay close to you" Sudou answered. "It would be more difficult to work with you if I am in a different room, plus I was able to get registration to move into a different room if I wanted too."

"I guess you can use the living room as your bedroom" Light said. "We only really use that room for lunch."

"I know it has been a lot of work" said Sudou. "But could I rest for the night? I can be on duty tomorrow."

"That is fine" Light said. It was then that he took a look at what Sudou brought. There was his clothes, both indoor and outdoor. He definitely looked prepared for December which was coming in 15 days. He seemed so cheerful. He was almost nothing like the Sudou he knew from High School. In some ways he reminded Light of Matsuda.

"You have grown a lot since I last saw you" Light told Sudou. "I will tell you that working with me is a lot of hard work. I realized this recently as well. I have had to have different shifts for who uses the Death Note."

"Yeah time has changed me" Sudou said. "I really can't wait to use the Death Note. I think I deserve to have your powers as well."

"Yeah" Light said. "You can start tomorrow." It was then that Light thought about the dangers of letting Sudou use the Death Note. He knew how much it changed him and Misa psychologically so he was really worried that it would do the same to Sudou. "That thing made me into a monster" Light thought. "It has only been recently that I caught how much of a monster I have become. I saw the danger in Mikami but Sudou is different. Maybe he can handle it, but I have to be sure."

Sudou was like how Light was before he got the Death Note. A person just hoping to make the world better. Light didn't even want to see Sudou as corrupt and insane. On the other hand, he didn't want to tell Sudou that he killed his sister and all her friends.

It was then that Light found a bag of jewelry that Sudou was carrying. "Hey" Light said. "Who is this for?"

It was at that moment that Sudou took the bag of jewelry. "It is for my fiancé" he said.

"Fiance?" Light asked.

"Yeah" Sudou answered. "We are going to get married in a few months. Her name is Yuri Takashi."

"Yuri" Light said remembering the bus hijacking that was totally his fault. "I haven't seen her in years" he said.

"Yeah" Sudou said. "She really likes me and sees me as a great person to be with."

"What are her feelings on Kira?" Light asked. "Just wondering."

"I honestly never asked her" Sudou said. "But she doesn't seem to mind living in a world with Kira."

"I think we can finish packing tomorrow" Sudou said. "I am sorry for the inconvenience I caused today. I was just checking to see."

He was interrupted by Light. "Nah, its okay, plus we don't mind having another person on the team." It was at that moment that Light went to the bathroom to change into his pajamas. It was there that he thought "A friendship that is how it should be to work with Kira. Not what is was before where I was abusive. I want this to be like how it was when I didn't have my memories of the Death Note. We'll also make sure that it is solely criminals. I have had a reputation for killing non criminals and I can't make up for that."

Misa was pretty attracted to Sudou at the moment.

"So you can be considered the second Kira" he asked Misa.

"Yes" Misa said. "And it is all for Light my Knight in Shining Armor. If it wasn't for him, the person who murdered my parents would still be alive."

"Wow" he said to Misa. "That is pure justice."

"A perfect world is a better world" Misa answered "I have been working with Light for a long time and I have enjoyed almost all of it."

"Was there a part you didn't enjoy?" Sudou said.

"Yes, being interrogated for several days with blindfolds and no way to escape from it." Misa said. "I probably would have killed myself if it wasn't for Light and his plan to wipe our memories for the time being."

"Don't give him too much information Misa" Light said. "He may not like all of it."

"Don't worry" Sudou said. "Just tell me one at a time, I am really interested in hearing about your adventures as Kira."

"Yeah" Light said in a deadpan manner. "It has been quite an adventure." It was then that the darker moments of being Kira came into his mind. All Light could think was "Get out of my head. Get it out of my head."

It was then that he said to Sudou "You don't mind sleeping in the living room?"

"Nah" Sudou said. "It is fine."

It was at that time that Sudou got set up in the living room with his own bed. Light and Misa went to bed afterwards and decided to save the Sushi for tomorrow. It was during bedtime that Light thought a lot about Sudou and what he wanted him to do.

* * *

The following day Light decided to read the rules of the Death Note to Sudou as well as tell him many different methods he used for the Death Note.

"So I have 40 seconds or the person who I wrote is going to die of a heart attack?" he asked.

"Yeah" Light said. "But you should stick to the heart attack death as it would make people know it is Kira. I have used it since I first got it and that is how I've been killing criminals since."

"When did you get the Death Note?" Sudou asked Light.

"November 23rd, 2006" Light said remembering that life changing day.

"That day was pretty typical, until I hear bizarre news of a mass murderer dying of a heart attack inside a school" Sudou said.

"Yeah" Light said in an apologetic tone "I guess you found the perpetrator. It was a life changing event for me. I questioned my morals back and forth after I learned about its power and once I settled on my goal it was a tough start until I could fully bring myself to do it. The fact that I recently feel like I want out recently is telling me something. Sudou, could you be the next Kira, if I wanted out?"

"Maybe" Sudou said. "But I want to see you as Kira for as long as possible beforehand. I would want to be a hero to the people just like you. I hope for the day that we have a perfect utopian society and you and me don't have to kill anybody anymore."

"Yeah" Light said "Hero" Light was thinking while he was talking to Sudou "No" he thought "I'm not a hero. Would a hero kill several cops, his own sister and her friends? No he wouldn't."

"Hey Light" Sudou asked. "When we are done with breakfast and finish with all the stuff I brought, could I show you my motorcycle?"

"Yeah" Light said. "But we have to make sure the killings for today are not delayed or else we could be in trouble."

"Yeah that's fine" Sudou answered.

The unpacking didn't take very long and neither did breakfast. After they were done Sudou showed Light and Misa his motorcycle.

"I am very talented with it" Sudou said. "In fact I could use it to help you if you don't mind."

"Yeah" Light said. "That would be fine."

After Sudou showed Light and Misa his motorcycle it was time for the killings of the day. Light and Sudou (who brought his own computer) were there to look up the names and faces of several criminals and give them to Misa.

After Misa's hour was over, Sudou was desperate to write in the Death Note for the first time. It was then that they heard the news on the television.

"It has been reported that the leader of the Japanese Police N has officially made Project Purge official" the new reporter said. "It is said that with this, Kira supporters and Kira followers will be hunted down and arrested by the police and their punishment will be determined by how much involvement they have with Kira. They will, however, be freed when the case in done."

"Dammit Near" Light thought. "You are so hell bent on taking me down that you are willing on arresting people with different opinions than me. Even I stopped killing people who disagreed with me some time ago."

"It has also been reported that the deaths of several detectives including Raye Penbar and Naomi Misora have officially been blamed on Kira" the newcaster said. "Kira's reputation has been lowering in the past couple of weeks, so we'll keep you updated on the poll of people's opinion on Kira."

It was then that Light turned off the TV.

"Light", Sudou said, "did you kill all those detectives?"

"That is out of the question right now" Light said frustrated. "I will tell you later."

"Light", Sudou said, "Can you give me an opportunity to write the names of criminals?"

"Yes" Light said. "Now can I take a shower? I need to think about this and Project Purge."

* * *

When Light entered the bathroom he took his clothes off and took a shower with his head down the entire time. It was then that his conscience and Kira arrived back there to talk to him.

"You care about Sudou a lot" Light's conscience said. "Did you know who you cared about a lot when you lost your memories?"

"L" Light answered.

"Yes L" Light's conscience said. "And you betrayed him and killed him. How do you live with yourself? You were his friend."

"That friendship was over the moment I got that Death Note back" Light yelled. "I am trying to rebuild who I am as a person with Sudou and Misa. At the time, if I didn't kill L, than I was dead. My mind is different now than it was then. Today I would do anything to go back to hanging out with L like I did during the Yotsuba case."

"Ligh,t do you want to know the real reason you won against L?" Light's conscience told Light.

"It was because he didn't have enough evidence to support his claim that I was Kira" Light told his conscience.

"Actually", Light's conscience said, "it was because he couldn't bring himself to lock you up."

"What?" Light said.

"During the Yotsuba case" Light's conscience told Light. "He was starting to see who you were before you had the Death Note and he couldn't help but understand and feel sorry for you. His act of slowing down the case was because he hopelessly wanted the friendship he had to continue. The problem was he couldn't sacrifice his moral code to be with you again. He knew everything you did was wrong but at that time he wanted someone else to lock you up. His behavior on the last day of his life was his knowing that he was going to die and he was basically admitting defeat during those moments. He never accepted losing until that point."

"I understand now" Light said shocked at the revelation.

"And how did you react to him dying?" Light's conscience said getting angrier "You made the last thing he saw to be an image of nothing but pure evil looking down on him in absolute glee. You laughed at his funeral and gloated on his grave. To you he was nothing more than a brick wall and outside of the time you lost your memories, you treated him as nothing but a brick wall. Light, what do you want out of your life?"

With all the regrets piling up one after another, Light told back, "I want forgiveness."

It was at that time that Light's conscience attacked his words angrily "You want forgiveness?" he said calmly and then he exploded. "Well L will never forgive your actions. He will never forgive you for murdering him and I bet your father and the Task Force will never forgive what you did, even if you went in my direction for redemption."

"Than what's the point of redemption anyway?" Light said.

"Light" Light's conscience said. "You are seeking to rebuild your image differently but you never let go of your goal because of your pride. It is the only thing keeping you from seeking a new direction. If something happens that makes you want to change your direction, than it must have a huge impact on you to do so. You can't seek forgiveness but you can seek understanding. If you went in my direction, they might not forgive you for what you have done but they will understand and maybe forgive you as a person instead. Once that pedestal is broken there is almost no going back and you have to tell them why that pedestal deserves to be broken instead of trying to defend yourself every moment. That is how pathetic criminals go out, but I know deep down you want to change and I can hope that someday you will agree with me."

"People are no longer tools" Light said. "I don't use them like that anymore. I want to give the benefit of the doubt to both sides of the table. That person and I have a true friendship. Sudou, I am worried right now about him using the Death Note. I hope he has enough will power to handle what he is doing. If not, then I will see too it."

"No Light" Kira answered. "Use people as tools, they are all inferior to you."

"No they are not" Light said to Kira "I am not listening to you, you try to persuade me to turn more and more into a brutal dictator but your arguments are weak, just like back then with my arguments on why Kira haters didn't deserve to live. I will take care of Project Purge but with zero causalities. I don't want Kira's Kingdom to collapse."

"I get it now" Light conscience said "The real reason you are having problems with going in my direction is your will to live. You just want things to be happy again like the time when you were 10. The problem is, that at this state, I don't think it is possible for things to go back to the way they used to be."

* * *

It was at that time that Light finished his shower and went outside to see that Sudou had written several names and he had the same attitude he always had.

"Hey Light" Sudou said. "I'm done. You can start writing for the day."

"Hey Sudou" Light said in a desperate tone. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah no different from how I always feel" Sudou said. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes" Light said. "The dangers of the Death Note are that is has a possibility of driving the person who uses it insane… how are you still fine?"

"Well", said Sudou, "when I write a person's name, I remember their face but I don't look at the name I am writing at all and when I'm done, I forget that the person even existed in the first place. They are criminals anyway and it is a good way of relieving guilt."

"Not look at the name when you're writing" Light thought "Maybe that will help me as well. I never felt good writing names after Sayu died, so maybe I can retain my normalcy when writing. It is a possibility? I need to try that method again."


	13. The Undertow

_**Chapter Twelve – The Undertow**_

* * *

Five days into working with Sudou seemed like a breeze to Light and Misa. He was a found friend and it didn't seem too difficult to get along when they all agreed on how the world should be. On the other hand, they would have to find some way to take down Project Purge by Near, it was simply a problem that was in the way for them, but they saw Kira fans being arrested every day and they couldn't get those people out of the situation. This bugged Light as he cared about people a lot and he felt it was unfair to arrest people who simply had different opinions.

"Dammit" Light said. "Another one has been taken away and he is only about 5 years old. I don't even want to see what the family thinks of what this child will be going through."

"They say that the punishment is based on how much of a threat they are to society" Sudou answered. "I haven't heard of any of them being executed, but I think that if they did that than they would be criticized for their extremist actions."

"Yeah" Light said. "Agreed." He thought of all those he had killed simply because they disagreed with him, starting with Lind L. Taylor. These thoughts were disgusting to him as now he regretted killing all of them. Those kills were the kills that a monster would do but Light didn't want to be a monster. That was why the kills from now on would only be the worst of the worst, those he felt were beyond rehabilitation and surprisingly there were still so many.

It was then that Light thought "Sudou is using the Death Note fine without any psychological change. After 5 days I was a totally different person, but he, he is still the same. Still I see the danger in using it so I must still limit his uses."

It was then that Light took Sudou's Death Note.

"Hey" he said.

"Can I do some of the killing right now?" Light said. "I just need to use it again to kill these criminals I saw on the internet."

Light knew he couldn't take the Death Note from Sudou without telling him some kind of truth and now Light was using Sudou's method for writing in the Death Note and surprisingly it didn't work as well as he thought. There was something different about Sudou that Light wasn't aware of. Light did have good choice for the criminals he would kill today. It was an entire group responsible for multiple massacres and what better way to satisfy the victims' families than to kill all of them.

Working together was also social for them as they could talk about their lives. Light still didn't mention the people he killed that made him a better person but even then he wasn't a better person. He was just on a higher end of low than he used to be. He used to be a mass murderer with a goal who killed criminals but also people who disagreed with him, people in the way and people who were no longer useful. Now he was just a vigilante mass murderer and that was all. It was his pride of creating a perfect world that prevented him from turning back at this point. He heard from his conscience that he needed a huge loss that was devastating enough for him to turn back, but right now he didn't know what that loss would be if it ever happened.

He was no longer abusive to his people, in fact he was very benevolent, and giving the people who worked for him everything they wanted at the same time. He cared about them as they were his friends and he wanted this friendship to last forever. It was the only thing keeping him happy after all the guilt he suffered beforehand. Even then, he still couldn't move on from killing Sayu.

"Look at this guy" Misa said to both of them "Multiple bank robberies, assault and battery and at least one dead and he is still on the run. Can I do the honors?"

"Sure" they both answered.

This was less and less as workers trying to please their boss as it was a social gathering for the three of them. It was then that they heard more about Project Purge.

"It has been reported that several Kira supporters are going to be interrogated on what they know about Kira" the reporter said. "N has said that he wants to do this to make sure he is right about where and who Kira is."

"No" Light yelled. "This is not fair, even if Near is after me, he shouldn't just imprison all of these people. They never did anything wrong, they just have a different opinion. We need to find the names and faces of all these police officers. We need to set these people free."

"Why don't we just kill a few?" Sudou answered "If they are this much of a threat to us, than we can get them out of our way."

Light remembering all the police detectives he killed, was angered by these words. He went to where Sudou was sitting and grabbed him.

"You want me to kill a few police officers, so we can set this people free?" Light questioned.

"They would never know it is us" Sudou said nervously.

It was then that Light wrestled Sudou to the ground. "No" Light yelled. "That is going too far. Do you really think that fight for justice means killing people who do the same things? If we do that we are nothing but crazy serial killers."

"But", Sudou questioned, "What if we are forced to? I was never saying we should but…"

It was then that Light punched Sudou in the face a few times out of anger. "No" Light said. "I don't want to see another innocent person dead."

Misa was shocked at Light's behavior. He had never been this angry before but he was the one who made her do this for the past 5 years. Why was he so sensitive to the idea of killing police officers?

"Light" Misa said concerned "We have both killed police detectives before. They were in the way. You once had a plan for me to kill the greatest detective L and I killed a police detective named Hirokazu Ukita from my television. Why are you being hypocritical to something you already did?"

Light looked down at Sudou, who had a few scratches on his face. "Light", Sudou asked, "Did you kill all those detectives that they blamed you for on television?"

Light let Sudou go at that moment. He was being abusive in a way he hadn't been before. He was just angry at Sudou's idea and he didn't know any other way to react. Light's face was an apologetic face but also a face of guilt. He hoped he would never have to do something like this again. He answered back to Sudou "Yes I did, I killed all of them" he said. "I have killed people like this before and now I regret the decision that I did so. They are all good people with families and people they wanted to help. It was during those times that I just saw them as enemies and I now realize that a hero wouldn't kill those people, but a monster, a monster would."

It was then that Misa came to comfort Light. It was then that Light apologized to Sudou. "I'm sorry for that. I didn't know how to react."

"It's okay" Sudou answered. "But what if there is a worst case scenario where we would have to."

"Yeah" Light said. "I guess worst case scenario." The fact was that he didn't want to kill another police detective no matter what the scenario. He had realized he went too far in his actions and he wouldn't fall any lower than he already has. That is why he increased the standards for who would be the victims of Kira. It would only be the worst criminals possible as he couldn't help but feel how people would think about minor criminals dying.

It was then that Sudou asked, "Light did you kill the detective L?"

Light could only answer in regret. "Yes, yes I did and I should have simply ignored him. Had I simply ignored the people who had different opinions than me than I wouldn't be in this situation at all. They are not bad people at all but my blinded mind couldn't see that at the time."

"Thank you" Sudou said. "I was just wondering… I will still be working for you. I think the worst of the worst deserve to be punished. I feel we are making a better world without them."

"Yeah" Light said, but he had thoughts of nothing but guilt "But I am possibly the worst of them all" he thought at the moment.

"Light", Sudou said, "I know the location of most of the police stations in Japan. But I don't know the names of the people who work there, but I know the hours and schedules very well. If I can get the names and faces of the police officers who work at those stations, you can threaten them as Kira. This way nobody has to get hurt."

"That sounds like a good idea" Light said. "But how are you going to get into those police stations."

"Easy" Sudou answered. "I am great at sneaking into places and I have my motorcycle to get me to those places fast. I also have a pair of Talky headphones. So you can talk to me Walky Talky style without the main device."

"Okay" Light said. "We'll start this tomorrow night."

The rest of the day and part of the following day were for Sudou to prepare for the occasion. He had been in trouble with the police, before but he knew he could hide what he was doing very well. It wasn't like he was going to get caught the first time around. The police wore tinted helmets to hide their identity but if Light was put into this situation, he still had the internet to help find their real names and faces.

* * *

That night Sudou sped to a police station and snuck in. He used his card to open most locked doors he came by. It was then that he came across the file and with his camera he took the pictures of those files to get the name and face of those people. He was able to do all of this and get out of there in time. He was also able to put everything back the way it was. When he came back, he gave Light the names and faces. "Here they are" he said exhausted.

"Here, have the rest of the bag" Light said giving Sudou the remaining potato chips in the bag.

"I don't think I drew any attention, so I think we are safe" he said. "Now you can know about anybody there and threaten them in case any Kira supporters are taken there."

"Good" Light said. "I promised myself nobody would die from this and I hope nobody does."

The following day Sudou did the same thing going to a nearby Police Station. But after he got the names and faces and put them away, he was caught leaving the area.

"Freeze" said the police officer. It was then that Sudou put his hands up.

It was then that Sudou was being interrogated by the police and it was on TV.

"It has been reported that there has been a robbery of some kind at a Kanto police station. It has been reported that the man was seen sneaking out when he was caught" said the news lady.

"Dammit" Light said. "They are going to find out what he is doing and then he is going to be dead meat." It was then that Light paused and recognized the place. "Wait a minute, I know that police station. It was the one I was taken too after I stopped an armed robbery."

"Misa", Light said, "I can get all the names and faces of all the people at this police station online. I think I can free Sudou without killing anybody."

"So Sudou Ikari", said the police officer, "I heard you have had multiple encounters with the police in the past. You want to explain this?"

"Like I said" Sudou answered "All those encounters were just minor misdemeanors and I wasn't doing anything special here."

"You swear you are telling the truth?" said the police officer. "Then let's check your backpack."

It was then that they checked Sudou's backpack and found nothing in there. Sudou was actually hiding the pictures he took in his clothes and he hoped those wouldn't be found.

"It's nothing" the police officer said.

"Should we take him back?" the other police officer said.

"No" the police officer said. "Near said to be extra sure so we have to threaten him."

It was at that moment that they took their guns out and pointed them toward Sudou's head. "Tell us why you are really here or we will blow your brains out. This is now a serious interrogation."

It was then that the phone rang and one of the two police officers put it on speaker phone. "Hello" said Kira "Is this the Kanagawa police force? I heard that you are holding a good man hostage."

"Yeah" the police officer answered. "And if he doesn't answer, we will kill him."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Takashi Yanomoto" Kira said. "And you shouldn't do it either Matoto Yoshida. If you shoot than man that you will die too. I know where you are, I know your name and I know your face and if you don't let that person go, I will kill you."

"And what if we search him?" Takashi said.

"Then you will die either way" Kira said. "I have no reason to kill you guys, you are good men but this is injustice to take these measures to this extreme. So kill him and you two die. Spare him and you can both continue living. It is your choice. I will give you five minutes."

Back at the suite Light was nervous. They had to answer in five minutes or less or he might have to kill them, but he didn't want to. If he continued killing police officers like he used too he would be no better than simply a crazy serial killer, nothing more, nothing less. He had a backup plan though. He had enough time to get the locations of other Kira followers near that police station. If time ran out, he would have them riot that place to get Sudou out. Light had never used more humane backup plans until today but he was ready.

The five minutes were tense, but four minutes in, one of them called Kira. "Okay" said Matoto. "We are going to let him go, on the basis that we survive. You win Kira."

It was then that they let Sudou go and he was able to bring Light the photographs he needed.

* * *

"Thanks for saving my ass" he said to Light.

"You're welcome" Light said. "But I'm afraid I might have made you a bigger target. I don't want a situation like this again; we are having an amazing friendship. Losing you would be… be devastating for both me and Misa." It was then that Light hugged Sudou "I hope I can maintain your public image so you don't appear as a Kira follower. We are like family here we can't lose anybody."

"Thanks" Sudou said. "I know why you care so much."

"Huh" Light said.

"You are like a broken figure. You must have lost a lot before coming to this point" Sudou said. "I can understand why you have come to regret a lot of your actions."

"Yeah" Light said as he thought about Sayu again.

* * *

Back at the NPA headquarters, Near got information on the situation.

"Near", Rester said, "I recently heard the news that Kira freed a man named Sudou Ikari by threatening the police officers there. It seems like that guy was wrongfully accused."

"No" Near answered. "Monitor Sudou Ikari as much as you monitor Kira. I'm afraid that he isn't a Kira follower but somebody who works for Kira. Let's see Light, Misa, Higuchi. Right now let's monitor Sudou's behavior. I think we found our fourth Kira."

"How do you know?" asked Rester.

"He seems very special to Kira" Near answered. "Most cases on when a person or Kira supporter is held at a police station, Kira simply ignored them. But Sudou is different. Kira wanted him alive and taken free for some reason. I think the reason is because Sudou is working for Kira."


	14. Empty Promises

_**Chapter Thirteen – Empty Promises**_

* * *

Twelve days after Near got Matsuda, Aizawa, Ide and Mogi to meet him at the Yellow Box Warehouse, he called all 4 of them as well as Light's father Soichiro about his discovery. Like the previous time he used voice synthesizer.

_Hello Aizawa, Matsuda, Ide, Mogi and Soichiro. I have called you to say that I am still alive after 13 days after writing the names of criminals. If you want information on the criminals I killed, look up the criminals that died at midnight of November 15, 2012. With this rule proven false, I think you guys have reconsidered the possibility of Light being Kira. Well I have to say that we'll finally be able to prove if he is Kira or not, once he rejoins the Task Force and once we can have a meeting place for all of us to see if he is or not. In the meantime, you guys will have to wait for Light to rejoin the Task Force. I will talk to you guys when that happens._

Soichiro turned off the phone and looked at his wife in a depressed manner. He was at his house with his wife. He had taken care of her since Light and Misa left the Task Force and he told her that he would stay with her until the Task Force was reformed.

"What is wrong?" asked Sachiko.

"I just heard that the 13 day rule regarding the use of the Death Note has been proven false" Soichiro said. "The problem is that this reopens the possibility that my son is Kira and if that is true there is a possibility that Light was the one who killed Sayu."

"No, don't think of that" Sachiko complained to her husband.

"I don't want to" Soichiro said. "But there is always the possibility and if Light really is Kira. I… I… I don't know. I would think of my son then. I probably couldn't move on with my life if that happened."

It was then that Soichiro thought, "Light if you did really kill Sayu, then I don't think I could consider you my son anymore, but if you regretted it than I don't know what to think."

"I wouldn't know what to think if we lost Light as well" Sachiko said.

"Sachiko", Soichiro said, "That is too much of a loss to even think about. If Light dies than I would die with him. Light is the only thing keeping me alive right now and I don't know what would happen to our family if we lost both children. No parent should outlive their child."

It was then that Soichiro thought again. "Please Light, please don't be Kira. I am praying to god, whoever he is to make this come true. He's my baby. I can't lose him. Light promise to me that you will live. There is nothing else for me if you don't."

* * *

During that same time Light, Misa and Sudou were relieved when they heard another police station retired from Near's rule.

"How many do we have so far?" Light asked Sudou.

"We have taken down at least 7" Sudou said. "If we keep this up than we can get to Near within a few months."

"That's great you two" Misa responded while still killing criminals. "When Project Purge is defeated, we can do our duty without any trouble."

It was then that they heard the news that previous Sakura TV executive Demigawa was now broke and had sold everything he owns. The news told them that with the money he has now, he can only be in small businesses.

"So it seems like Demigawa has really gone down the gutter recently" Misa said. "It is strange because without him, I may have never met you."

"While I hate Demigawa with my guts", Light said, "I don't hate him enough to wish he was poor. He doesn't deserve to lose everything. He just doesn't deserve to have high power over things. God if he was leader of Japan than…"

"Than what Light?" Misa asked.

"Then I don't know" Light answered. It was then that Sudou asked a different question.

"Light", Sudou asked, "Once you get the name and face of their leader Near, do you plan on killing him?"

"I guess" Light said in an apologetic tone. "I guess it is yes. Once the head is cut off, there will be nobody to take his place and his rule will fall apart. As of now, I don't know, but I don't know of any other way to take care of him."

"So is he the only person you plan on killing?" Sudou asked.

"Maybe" Light said "If Near is defeated than nobody will come after me. Plus I think Near has committed the crime of illegally taking control of the police based on the reports I have seen. I have seen people go to extremes like L did but Near has gone to even more extremes than L would do. It's a surprise as my actions have gotten less and less extreme over these two recent months."

Sudou saw Light's face. It was turning regretful. It was then that he told Light "It seems like you have reached the point of no return with your actions"

It was then that Light answered the question. "I have, if I'm caught I'm dead and I truly lose everything at this point. This was a risk since the start and each line I crossed I got further away from home. It was only recently that I caught myself. I don't want you to go the extremes I went to. I wish those never happened and they didn't deserve to happen."

It was at that point that Light thought about Sudou "He has been using the Death Note as much as Misa and I but he still hasn't had any psychological change. Could he be a more worthy Kira than I am? No, don't think that, he offered the idea of killing cops at one point something I never want to do again and he hasn't used the Death Note as long as either of us. Still tonight is another night for him get information of the people at these police stations. We have taken down 7 in the Kanto region and there are many more outside. Than my communication with him will be more limited, but we still have to try whatever we can to transfer the information anonymously"

"Is something wrong Light?" Sudou asked.

"No" Light said. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just a little worried about you."

"Don't worry about me" Sudou said. "I'll be fine. I can handle these situations. If push comes to shove, I will improvise."

"That would be fine" Light answered.

* * *

"Got it" Near said analyzing the information.

"What is it?" said Giovanni

"Sudou has been reported to have snuck into 7 police stations on 7 different nights but that is not all" Near said. "Each one of those police stations ceased contact with me shortly afterward because as they said Kira threatened to kill them if they did not. People fear death because it is the fear of the unknown. Nobody knows how it feels to die until it happens and after it happens you can't tell anybody how it felt because then you are gone, gone forever."

"So what are we going to do with Sudou, if he is now considered a threat?" Giovanni asked.

"Do whatever you can to prevent future shut downs" Near said. "I don't care what it takes. We see him leaving that hotel for 7 nights so far, so he has gotten predictable. Follow him and do what you can to make sure that the threat is purified."

* * *

At the suite Light gave Sudou the location for the next police station he would get information from.

"Are you okay going tonight?" Light asked. "It is a bit reckless as the traffic is heavier tonight than it usually is."

"Don't worry about me" Sudou answered. "I can handle this no matter what."

"Great because I'm counting on you" Light said. "If you are in any danger I will do whatever I can to get you out alive okay."

"Okay" Sudou said. "Light?" he said.

"What?" answered Light.

"Thanks for everything." It was then that he hugged Light. "Thanks for giving me something to live for, a possibility of having a better world. Thanks for being the best friend you could possibly be. You have opened my eyes to new ideas and things. I know it has only been 12 days but you are like the older brother I never had. We are family, we do this together. When this is all said and done I want you to meet Yuri with me." It was then that he gave Light a homemade heavily decorated paper crane. "I want you to give this to Yuri as a gift from you, it would be really sweet."

Just before Sudou left Light said to him "I will live up to my promises. We will meet Yuri together."

It was then that Sudou left and Light smiled. This new found friendship made him feel better. He felt like a human again and not the monster Kira had twisted his mind to be. He couldn't lose Sudou or Misa, they were the friends that he never had, just like L was for some reason. It was then that the now painful memories of L's death started to haunt Light. He truly regretted those actions, he wished he never got his memories back so he could be with L again but it was too late now. "L" Light thought "I'm sorry, I simply didn't know back then."

Sudou took his motorcycle and decided to go to the police station in Nagano. He started driving when he started hearing a police car. Light could hear that sound over the headset that Sudou had.

"Sudou respond" Light said. "Is everything okay?"

"A police car seems to be following me. I will try to lose him with a different path" Sudou said to Light.

"If you take a different path than you might make it there later than expected" Light answered back.

"Light just let me improvise" Sudou answered back. "I know what I'm doing."

"I'm just worried for your safety" Light said. "Trick him into stopping and then take a different direction, while he is distracted."

"Okay" Sudou said. "I will."

It was then that Sudou was able to escape the police car by taking a new path to get to the police station. He had to do this, do this for Light. Light was his idol, the person he looked up to now. All he cared about now was giving Light the information to shut down of another police station.

It was then that Near got the higher ups to chase Sudou knowing that they wouldn't be there until Sudou made his stop at the police station.

"You seemed to shake them off for now" Light said. "But if all else fails you should get off the grid. I don't want you to go home in a body bag."

"Light, I see that nobody else is chasing me, so I don't think that will happen." he said "Light?"

"What?" Light asked.

"I already planned around this if it fails" Sudou said. "I decided to keep communication with you if I can, but I might not be staying at the hotel."

"What?" Light asked.

"I might cancel it for your own safety" he said. "Don't worry, I will be able to give you the information in different ways. It is that I know if I'm caught, you might be dead. I did this so you could still be safe. Don't worry, we'll hopefully meet again by Christmas to see Yuri together. That is a promise, but I know your safety comes first."

* * *

It was at the NPA headquarters that Rester asked Near a question.

"Near?" Rester asked.

"What?" Near said.

"If we connect Sudou to the hotel Light and Misa are staying at", Rester said, "would it prove that Light and Misa are Kira?"

"Rester", Near said, "my plan to capture Kira was after Light rejoins the SPK. Even with the evidence that Light and Misa stayed at that hotel and Sudou is somehow connected to Kira, it can't work for one reason."

"What reason?" Rester asked.

"We can't simply arrest him now. That would be too good for Kira, he must be humiliated" Near said "We can't arrest them without making sure the threat is nullified. There is no proof outside of my assumptions that Sudou was connected to Kira even though he is working for Kira. The public simply wouldn't believe it. The idea of capturing Kira was simply L's idea but it is too simple that Kira should be humiliated in front of everybody. Project Purge was made so no Kira supporter would get him out at anytime. While we have captured many, there are still many out there who could help him to escape. Plus the evidence is flimsy anyway. We can't prove the Death Note works without crossing a line, so no we are not capturing Kira after this. All people know is that Kira is out there and Sudou might have worked for Kira. Kira will not be captured until the final part of my plan, okay?"

"I understand Near" Rester said. "But aren't you going to an extreme with your complex Operation Oxymandias plan?"

"It is called Operation Oxymandias for a reason" Near said. "It is the complete downfall of Kira and we have to have Kira after all potential threats are removed. So I don't want the dots connected until I get Kira in a place he can't escape. When we report this we will only say that Sudou was connected to Kira, okay?"

"Okay" Rester said.

"Light", Near thought, "I know you are Kira but I just need the perfect place to capture you as Kira." It was then that he started looking over locations for the endgame.

* * *

At the police station, Sudou was able to get the names and faces of the police officers. It was then as he left the police station that he saw police pointing guns at him.

"Sudou", one said, "you are under arrest for conspiring with Kira."

"How should you know" Sudou answered. "I am just a trespasser going to a police station."

"You are also possibly responsible for the shutdown of 7 others" the police officer said "Bring him in, but don't bring Kira in because Near has special plans for him."

"Near", Sudou said playfully, "I wonder if you know him."

"It is none of your business" the police officer said. "You will not stop Operation Oxymandias and it will play out according to Near's rules not yours."

"So why don't you arrest me?" Sudou said.

"Sudou", Light yelled, "What are you doing?"

"You'll see" he told Light. It was then that he ran straight to his motorcycle avoiding a barrage of bullets. The police were really chasing him now.

"Sudou" Light said "You're in danger please come back if you are able to."

"I have to change plans Light" Sudou said. "I will be back another day to give you all the information that I gathered at that time."

"But Sudou" Light said.

"No Light, watch" Sudou responded. He went to the nearest sewer opening and threw all the pictures down there without anybody noticing. He was after all a master of being sneaky. "I will get Light to save me and then I will get those photos without anybody noticing and find a way to give them to Light" he thought at the moment. Then he continued to drive.

It was then that his path was blocked by many police cars and he stopped. He got off the motorcycle and took off his helmet.

It was then that several police officers took out their guns.

"All right I admit it" Sudou said. "I was behind this entire operation."

"Sudou what are you doing?" Light said.

"When they take me, find out who they are and free me" Sudou whispered.

"So I guess you are going to arrest me then" Sudou said.

It was at that moment that Sudou was hit by a large barrage of gun fire before he fell onto the ground extremely bloody, not a single muscle moving.


	15. Nothing Else Matters

_**Chapter Fourteen – Nothing Else Matters**_

* * *

Upon Sudou's dead body, a police officer got a called by Near about the situation.

"So what did you do?" asked Near.

"He's dead" said the police officer. "We killed him."

"I said to bring him in for interrogation" Near said. "Why did you guys disobey my order? Since I started I wanted Kira followers or people working for Kira captured not killed."

"He was planning something, probably the reason he went down an empty lane behind our backs" the police officer said "He was too dangerous to be left alive. As far as we are concerned he is a murderer for working with Kira. Should we capture Light and Misa?"

"Leave them be" Near answered. "We have to take care of all the Kira followers. I am still laying my trap for Kira as we speak and I can't get him into it until he rejoins the Task Force. I want to see to Kira personally. That is why I wanted Sudou alive, he was the key to unlocking information about Kira and now that he is gone, we have missing information. The only thing he has now are my assumptions, which not everybody will believe. I will ask you guys to return to base for an autopsy as well as an interrogation about your behaviors. For now, we need at least another month until there are no more things to protect Kira. Just report these two things, that Sudou is dead and that there is a possibility he was involved with Kira." It was then that Near stopped transmission with the policemen, oblivious to how Kira really was at this point.

"So what is your trap?" Rester asked.

"When Kira is as weak as he could possibly be", Near said, "we will lure him into a place he can't escape and if all is planned well, we will reveal who Kira really is and Kira will have no other option but to confess. Based on how I have studied criminals, they are the most likely to confess if they feel trapped and want to escape. I want to be there when Kira confesses. I will keep the information oblivious to the Task Force, until it is all revealed on that day."

* * *

It was there that Light was at his computer still trying to contact Sudou after he heard the gunshots. "Sudou", Light said desperately, "Sudou, speak to me. What happened? Please wake up. If you aren't how will we meet Yuri together. Please Sudou say something, anything."

It was then that Misa turned on the TV to show Light the news. It showed the police surrounding Sudou's dead body covered with multiple bullet wounds.

噂警察によって射殺ヤングアダルトは、キラのために働いていたと  
Young Adult shot dead by police, rumored to have been working for Kira.

It was then that thoughts went through Light's mind and he started to cry. "No don't be dead, please don't be dead. This can't be happening. We are family, we can't lose each other."

It was then that Light had a very tearful yell. "NO, he shouldn't have died" he yelled.

It was then that Misa tried to calm Light down "I know you are having trouble without him, but by this point he was a liability. We can move on without him."

It was at that point that Light got angry. "Don't you dare called Sudou a liability" he yelled.

"But Light", Misa said, "what were we going to do at this point?" At that point, Light hit her in the head.

"I made a promise to save him" Light said. "I would never exploit him for my own gain. This was for the benefit of all of us just like Kira was suppose to be for the benefit of the world."

Light wrestled Misa to the mirror. "Do you think I would give up on a friend? We are all friends here. I would never kill my own friend."

"Light", Misa said, "I understand, and I care about you but please just calm down." It was at that point that Light punched the mirror making a small dent in it.

He wrestled Misa to the ground, grabbing one of her arms. It looked like he was about to break it. "Do you know what Sudou's family would think after they found out this news? Do you think I would kill the people who work for me simply because they are no longer useful? I have regretted those decisions since I killed Sayu. That was supposed to be a new beginning, a better Kira, not the brutal dictator from before but a benevolent freedom fighter and if this is the result of being Kira than I want out. I have wasted too much of my life. So Misa say Sudou was not a liability."

"Light" she said as Light started to move her arm slightly.

"Say it" Light screamed.

"Okay, Sudou was not a liability and neither am I" Misa said. "I understand your feelings completely and I cared about both of you. I guess when I said it, I cared about you more than Sudou" she confessed.

It was then that Light stopped himself. He was being abusive again and he didn't like it. The same thoughts he had from killing Sayu were in his head.

_This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault, This is all my fault,_

"I'm sorry for everything. Do what you want." Light said quietly to Misa and went to his bed with his Death Note and started writing.

* * *

During that time Misa wrote the remaining names, making sure they were on schedule like Light had planned for the day. She saw Light writing. It was there that she took the Death Note just to see what was going on and saw several incomplete names of Light Yagami. She was shocked at the site. Light was trying to commit suicide but it was useless as she knew the rules of the Death Note.

"Light", Misa told him, "Rem once told me that you can't die if you write your name in your Death Note, that only the Shinigami that gave you the Death Note can kill you."

"So that is how it is" Light said. "I am a slave to this notebook until I either give up ownership of Ryuk makes me his trophy."

He then turned to Ryuk. "Ryuk", he asked, "is this rule true?"

"Yes Light" Ryuk said. "It is. When Shinigami drops a Death Note and somebody finds it, unless they decide to give up ownership, they will die by the Shinigami's hands. The shinigami write the name of the human as kind of a remembrance of that person. The King had this rule since the very beginning."

"So I am tied to you for life?" Light questioned. "And no matter what, I will die by your hands. That is so unfair."

"And I assume Misa will never give me her notebook now that she realized this" Light said.

"She would never now" Ryuk said. "She loves you too much."

It was then that Light continued to whisper. "This is all my fault." It was then that he turned to Ryuk and said, "Ryuk… This is all your FAULT."

"My fault?" Ryuk questioned.

"Yeah" Light said. "If you didn't drop that stupid notebook than I would have never found it and Sayu and Sudou would still be alive."

"You think you can blame me" Ryuk said. "I may have dropped that notebook but it was you who lead yourself to this point. Like I said since the start, Death Note users are cursed to fall under the Death Note's corruption and it's only been since now that you have caught yourself. If you wanted a normal life, you should have given up ownership a long time ago, but now you have been ruining your life one step at a time and you can never get out."

"Yeah" Light said. "I can never get out" It was then that Light thought "How can I blame you, if it is me I can't forgive?" Light really and truly found out the real ramification of his actions.

"I have been ruining my life" he thought "I have been killing so many people when I should have known how precious one's life is. Those criminals they had families as well. Even the worst criminal is still human. The time when I was working with L during the Yotsuba case, that was so much better than this. The heroic acts and the cases I solved before I got the Death Note, that was so much better than this. I need to be the hero again. I am nothing but a sick disgusting criminal now and I can't bring back those who I killed that made me get this status. Sudou gave me hope. He was a friend but also he was a person who could have been the Kira I wanted to be, a freedom fighter, not a serial killer. I killed my own sister, lost Sudou, I don't want to lose Misa. How can I go on as Kira if it means losing everything I know and love? Kira is wrong and I should have known that. I need a scenario so everything can go back to how it used to be but how."

Light said to Misa, "Tomorrow, I will give up ownership of the Death Note, the kills will be scheduled in advance so nobody is suspicious. When I wake up Ryuk, that is your cue to get rid of the Death Note. The planned time to give me that notebook back is when I wake up the day after tomorrow. I just want to lose my memories just to see what it is like. I have so many painful thoughts right now it is crazy."

"Light" Misa said "That means I'll be in charge for the entire day"

"No" Light said. "I think my amnesic self is fully capable to make that day as fair as possible. You'll just have to hide the Death Note to make sure I'm not suspicious. I think you might like my amnesic self. I haven't been him for over five years."

"Ryuk" Light said "You got the plan down?"

"Oh yeah" Ryuk said. "One day without the Death Note shouldn't be too difficult. I see you know what you are doing."

* * *

It was then that Light went into the bathroom, took his clothes off and took a shower. The shower was the longest he had ever taken. It was there that he encountered his conscience alone in the room.

"So your giving up ownership tomorrow" Light's conscience said. "Even when you admit every wrong you do, you still reject my redemption plan."

"I want to live how I used to. It was better, I was a better person and my life was so much happier" Light said. "I want to go back to happier times, like when I was ten."

"You've reached the point of no return" Light's conscience said "You have dug yourself into a hole that is almost impossible to dig out of. With how powerful Near is at this point, I say any plan is useless."

"The original plan was to defeat the leader of the SPK, Near" Light said. 'Than nothing would stop me."

"No Light" Light's conscience yelled. "I don't think you understand this at all. People will always be after you no matter how much power you have. You cut off one head, two more will grow back, just like a hydra. You killed L and now Near and Mello are after you. You've been doomed to failure ever since you went after L. Now how does it feel to be on the top?"

"It feels painful" Light said "It is painful to be at the top. I had to lose everything and deceive everybody I knew and loved to get to the top and when it all comes crashing down, I will break my own crown. I spent years getting to this status and now I have nothing. The only person I have is Misa and it has only been recently that I have cared about her."

"You've been lonely Light" Light's conscience said. "You have been lonely for a long time and your idea to make a kinder, gentler world fell apart when you became the victim of the corrupting influence of the Death Note. You became the thing you have made your mission to destroy and it was only until now that you're realizing it."

"I just want to atone" Light said "I don't want people to see me as this monster. That is why I am coming up with a plan to make sure people never see me as this."

"Do you know what would happen if your father found out you were Kira?" Light's conscience said.

"What?" Light questioned.

"He would most likely kill himself" Light's conscience said.

"No" Light says. "I love him. He has to live."

"It is your life" Light's conscience said. "It is all up to you if you want this to not happen any more. The last influence of the Death Note has finally been broken free from you. Your pride to make a better world, your desire to atone and try to wipe the image of who you were has put you on the high end of low. I may still hate you for what you have done but I feel sorry for you as a person. It is not until now that you have realized just who you have been in your 23 years on this earth and you want to make sure that everything is better, not just for you but for everybody else. You have truly become human again Light."

"Does that mean I can talk to L again?" Light said.

"Sadly no" Light's conscience said "You haven't redeemed yourself in his eyes and neither have you redeemed yourself in my eyes. But from how optimistic you are about losing your memories again I can say tomorrow will be better."

"Yes" Light said. "Yes it will be."

It was then that Light's conscience said one more thing to Light before he left "Light, the reason you became corrupted is because you used the Death Note multiple times and also had weak willpower. People who use the Death Note but aren't corrupted either use it once and don't use it again or have strong willpower like Sudou had, or both. You failed both. While you had good intentions, the Death Note corrupted your mind to the point you practically weren't you anymore. The more you regret your actions due to how much it ruined your life, the more you became less corrupt and more benevolent. It is you Light that made such a psychological change."

"Yes" Light agreed. "And now I realize how much the Death Note took a toll on my life."

Light was ready for the following day. He saw nothing but a bright light at the end of the tunnel. He didn't want his life to end with a freight train coming his way. He realized just how bad he truly was today and it was time for a turn around. He was already thinking up a new plan that would involve him losing his memories again.

The Death Note paper that contained all the incomplete Light Yagami names was flushed down the toilet by Misa as Light went to bed.


	16. Sanitarium (Re-Align)

_**Chapter Fifteen – Sanitarium (Re-Align)**_

* * *

That night, Mello got a phone call from Near regarding what he will be doing from now on.

"Hello" Mello answered.

"Hi Mello" said Near. "This is Near. Based on the fact that I am calling you at this instant, it means that I am not dead and the 13 day rule is false."

"Congratulations" Mello answered. "I assumed that would happen. So what do you want me to do? It has gotten boring sitting in this apartment for the past two weeks."

"Your next task is the most important" Near said. "Light and Misa have been leaving their apartment most days to do some kind of activity. It is time to use that to our advantage. From now on I want you to check on the Death Note there every day you can possibly do it. I will keep track of the days until Light falls into my trap. Then I will have you replace the page for the day with a regular piece of paper to trick them. If this thing works, we will be able to defeat Kira."

"Got it" Mello answered. "I will start it tomorrow." It was then that he hung up the phone.

"Who was it?" said Matt waking up tired.

"Near" Mello answered. "He has given me a new assignment to work with."

"You know" Matt said. "Near was never really the social type, so I can understand why you guys are rivals at heart, but maybe you too should try to lighten up a bit with each other. You are all doing this because L wasn't able to finish it."

"Yeah" Mello said. "I know but it is difficult to rebuild relationships with each other when we are after the same homicidal maniac. When all is said and done than maybe we might have the opportunity, but now, we have a troubling team up just to take down one guy. For me, it is just hard to ask for friendship at this hour. Okay?"

"Yeah" Matt said. "I get it. It doesn't stop the people at the Wammy house writing stories depicting you two as friends."

"It is because we had trouble trying to be a friend from the start" Mello answered. "Near was never the social type. It pains me that I couldn't get more control over this operation but I just want Kira eliminated so I will do anything to make sure that comes to be."

* * *

That morning as Light was opening his eyes, he saw Ryuk for a brief second before Ryuk left the apartment. It was then that the painful memories disappeared from his mind and his once dull eyes became innocent with the spirit of someone who just wanted to be part of a great world.

"Where am I?" Light thought. It was then that he saw Misa looking at him in a caring manner. "Oh I remember. I checked into this hotel some time ago." Memories of Sayu and Sudou's deaths were still in his mind but he didn't know that he was responsible for both of them, even though Sudou's death was accidental. As far as he was concerned Kira killed Sayu and it was his new reason to go after him, not realizing that he was Kira. He didn't remember anything he did as Kira.

"Are you feeling alright Light?" Misa said, trying her best not to mention anything related to Light being Kira.

Light got up a little bit in bed and got the sleepies out of his eyes. "Yeah" Light said. "I am fine, just tired of chasing Kira for the past 6 years." Those words were a cue that he had forgotten what he did when he abandoned ownership. "I will return to the Task Force when I am ready. I remember being given the position as the new L when he died. Even with the knowledge I have, we still haven't caught Kira yet."

"Do you want me to make breakfast?" Misa asked.

"No" Light said smiling. "I will make it for both of us."

At the breakfast table Light and Misa were both having a bowl of cereal for breakfast. "Hey Light", Misa asked, "what do you want to do today?"

"I want to go out with you" Light said "You are a great person Misa, I haven't really gotten the opportunity to spend the entire day out with you. Whatwould you think of that? I care about you a lot."

"That would be great" Misa said.

"Yeah" Light said with calm smile. "Ever since I became the leader of the Task Force, I haven't gotten very many opportunities to take a break and just enjoy life for what it is. I may have lost a lot recently but I am always determined to move on and I feel today will be a great day."

Misa did a cheerful laugh and Light followed suit. Today, Light truly was different from how he previously was. He may have lost a lot recently but he was always determined to move on with his life. At least that is how Misa saw it. Today they would leave the hotel all day and not be back until night. While he wasn't Kira, Misa Amane really seemed to like this Light. She had never seen Light so gentle before.

The kills were planned in advance, with Misa killing about 100 major criminals behind Light's back before they left.

The first thing they did that day was go to a local coffee shop for brunch. Light promised a lot of meals for both of them today. Misa had peppermint mocha coffee to prepare for the holidays as well as her birthday. Light had his coffee black like he usually did.

They both saw the recent news regarding Project Purge and the people being arrested for supporting Kira.

"I don't understand this" Light said in a complaining tone. "I hate Kira like all the rest of you, but don't you think arresting people for having an opinion is going too far?"

"I would agree" said the owner of the coffee shop. "I am not one to criticize people's opinions on this issue. I mean the people in the United States have just as many debates as this but we do, is just unfair towards people as a whole."

"It is an elaborate operation to take down Kira himself" Light said "So I do think they have their reasons. I just hope that they aren't too harsh on these people. If they all and out torture them, then I am protesting."

"They say that torture is against their morality" the owner said. "So I don't think they would stoop that low. Say are you enjoying your coffee?"

"Yeah" Light said. "I have always enjoyed your coffee. It has been a favorite of mine since I first tried it when I was 13."

"Mine is great as well" Misa said. "Peppermint always makes me feel ready for the holidays."

"That reminds me" Light said "Your birthday is on Christmas. I think we should go shopping together for the occasion."

"That would be sweet, Light" she said cheerfully "I haven't really gone shopping with you for the occasion. You usually buy a surprise for me."

"Well Misa", Light said jokingly, "do you like surprises?"

"I don't mind either way" Misa said. "I am getting a gift after all."

* * *

Light and Misa finished their coffee and went over to the bookstore to see what they could get for each other. It was around this time that Mello snuck into Light and Misa's apartment to give Near information about the notebook.

"Based on what I have found", Mello told Near through the headset, "Misa has been writing about a page a day, but why don't we check on Light's as well."

"I will deal with that notebook when the time comes" Near responded "I need you to find the pages where we could put a non Death Note paper in. I am scheduling between January 20th and February 1st ."

"Are you sure Light will be back in the Task Force by then?" Mello said.

"Yes" Near replied "Hopefully Light will get back to the Task Force by then, but in case he doesn't, I need you to keep checking."

"Alright" Mello said. "I am taking pictures of the completed pages now. Each time I come back here, I will keep going from where I left off."

"And I will give you the picture of where you left off the day you do this again" Near said.

"I will finish my duty here and then scram" Mello said. "I will give you the pictures when I can."

* * *

At the book store, Light and Misa were searching for the many different types of stories they would read for the future. Light was searching dystopian while Misa was searching romance.

"What do you think of this story?" Misa gave Light a book.

"Nah", Light said, "never been a fan of vampires or werewolves. How about this?"

It was a futuristic gladiator story, set in the post apocalyptic United States. "Oh that story sounds great" Misa said. It was then that Light and Misa searched for more diverse story types. They went out of their way to buy a few nonfiction stories as well. Light chose a few detective novels as well as educational books on crime and punishment. If he wanted to continue his job as the new L he would need to study as much as he could to get closer to Kira. He never wanted to be the new L in the first place but after being given this position, Light understood the responsibilities. With his amnesic mind, he was oblivious to the real reasons he did it, but his mind felt better without the memories than it did with the memories.

Afterwards Light and Misa decided to go the playground to be on the swings. They had one back to back. Beforehand though, Light had a call from Matsuda.

"Hey Light" Matsuda said. "Sorry if I am calling you at the wrong time."

"No Matsuda" Light said. "It is fine."

"I just came here to see when you would be interested in bringing the Task Force back together" Matsuda said.

"I will do it when I am able to" Light said "I am hanging out with Misa today"

"Oh Misa" Matsuda said. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah" Light said. "She is fine. We recently went out for brunch and then to the bookstore."

"That is great Light" Matsuda said. "I'll see you when I can."

"Bye" Light said.

It was then that they swung on the swings making funny faces and laughing together. For Light, this felt like childhood again. The days he would hang out with his friends and family. He missed L a lot. They may have had a rough start but they practically were meant to be friends by the end. Light wished he could share this with L.

With no memory of being Kira, the hallucinations of the two figures weren't present and neither were the constant thoughts of self blame. He was how he was from youth and the young detective knew that.

For dinner they went to a Pizza place. Light and Misa ate indoors and ordered a pizza with two different sides. One side would be the Japanese combo that he usually got and Misa's would be the one with anchovies.

During the wait for the Pizza, they began to talk.

"So Light" Misa said. "This has been a truly wonderful day, in fact this has been one of the best days of my life."

"I can say the same myself" Light said "The case has been very frustrating recently and I really want to relieve all the tension I had today. It is just great being around you. Being leader of the Task Force is hard but it is a job that I am comfortable with. I miss the days, where L was there to make things interesting. I really miss the guy. Sure it was difficult being in prison for those stupid accusations and being chained to him was uncomfortable, but he really grew on me. He was really a person that I could understand and by the time we were able to trick Higuchi, it was like a full fledged friendship."

"I still don't like that he held me hostage" Misa said "And also didn't let me go to see Higuchi arrested."

"Him tying you up there was for your own good" Light said. "If you came with us, Higuchi could have killed you easily."

"Yeah" Misa said. "I understand."

"Yeah" Light said smiling. "I've grown a lot since being that guy complaining about L. It really shows that I should not judge a person the first time I see them."

"Light", Misa asked, "Are upset that Kira?"

Light interrupted her with a more serious face "Yeah, I am still upset that Kira killed my sister. That bastard took away one of the people I would have given my life for. If anything I would die for her but she is gone. What he did was unforgivable but I have learned that in the end life moves on. I may still be sad that my sister is dead but that doesn't prevent me from living the best life I can. There is so much I would have wanted to do with her that I never got the opportunity but I know as a person that life is precious. Don't waste it."

This made Misa think of the Light she had experienced after he killed her sister. She saw that that Light had wasted his life away with the decisions he made and realized what he had become. While this Light had a big loss, he was still able to move on from it. He didn't have any guilt because he had no knowledge that he had killed his sister.

It was at that moment that the meal had arrived and Light and Misa ate all of it. It was a very enjoyable day for them, but Misa knew that tomorrow morning she would have to give Light's Death Note back to him so he could regain his memories. Ryuk told her, he would be giving back that notebook to her tonight and she would have to keep it away from Light until he woke up again. As for her, Misa didn't know what Light would think when he got his memories back, but she did have a few suspicions.

* * *

That same night Halle and Giovanni went out for a Chinese dinner. They were going be talking a lot about Kira.

"Halle", Giovanni said, "I have to wonder, do you think Near is going a bit extreme with his methods?"

"Wasn't L pretty extreme as well?" Halle said "Whatever Near is doing, it will benefit in the end. He just thinks it is too simple to simply capture Kira on the spot."

"Sure" Giovanni said. "Complexity addict. Hey Halle I do have a question. Light is Kira as far as we are concerned and we know Kira killed Sayu. I have to wonder does Light regret killing Sayu?"

"I really don't know" Halle responded. "We won't actually find out until we get Kira to confess, but I would say no in my opinion. But we don't know yet."

"I don't know" Giovanni answered. "But I don't think Kira is that heartless" It was then that Giovanni's face got a bit red as he felt like he was ready to confess "Hey Halle, could we maybe, go out more? I really enjoy being around you."

"Are you trying to confess your love?" Halle questioned with a confused face.

"No, No, No, you are just a great person to be around is all" Giovanni said.

"Well I really enjoy being around you as well" Halle said. "You are really a very charismatic person. You always look on the bright side of life."

"Yeah" Giovanni said with some laughter. "I always look on the bright side of life as a whole."


	17. Powerslave

_**Chapter Sixteen – Powerslave**_

* * *

That morning as Light was sleeping, Misa was getting prepared to give him his Death Note back. She had it upside down so he wouldn't notice what it was. It was at that time that Light was waking up. It was then that Light saw the Death Note.

"Hey Misa" Light said. "What is that?" He grabbed the notebook with both hands.

At that moment, the memories came back to him in rapid fire. From the day he got the Death Note to Sudou's death they were coming back to him at a rapid pace. This feeling, it was just as painful as it was before. Light's eyes glowed white during this progress and he gave a blood curdling scream. A few second later, it was over and the memories returned. Light's face looked serious and very upset.

"You shouldn't have done that" Light told Misa.

"But", Misa said, "you told me to."

"You don't understand what I mean" Light said back.

"What?" Misa replied.

"When I lost my memories yesterday", Light answered, "my mind felt free, free from these painful thoughts. I had no memory of anything I did with the Death Note so I didn't have all this sadness and guilt inside of me. When I lost my memories I truly felt alive again. I had the true happiness I had when I was young. Now with my memories back, I feel nothing but pain again, something I just want to be gone."

"So" Misa answered. "You feel dead right now."

"Misa", Light replied, "I thought I felt dead since I killed Sayu but now I am wrong. I have felt dead ever since I got that Death Note and it is only now that I realize it. You are the only one who understands me at this time. Everybody else would just hate me."

"You want out don't you" Misa replied "But I don't want you out. We have made a better world together. If it wasn't for you the person who murdered my parents would still be out there. You can't just leave me."

"Misa", Light replied, "I just want you to be happy but now I have realized that I have been a slave to the corruption of the Death Note since the start. Now I would just want a normal life again. It's not you Misa, it's me."

Light saw the two figures again. That was his cue that he was still suffering and at many crossroads. But maybe he could redeem himself without dying in the process, redeem himself as a human. He got an idea and if this plan worked he would never have these painful memories again. It was then that Light got out of bed.

* * *

At the NPA headquarters, Mello showed Near all the pages of the Death Note he had taken a picture of.

"So", Mello replied, "that is how many pages she wrote in so far. If we see the pacing, she had filled about one page a day and will continue doing so."

"I know what pages to use" Near said. "If the trap is scheduled for any of those days we have eleven pages to choose from. When I get the day scheduled you will replace the page for the day with a fake/"

"I understand" Mello said/ "How much longer do you estimate Light will be out of the Task Force?"

"I think he will be out by the first half of January" Near said. "When he does get out, replace the page as soon as you can. Okay?"

"Okay" Mello replied. It was then that Mello left the NPA headquarters determined to get the future schedule correct to take down Kira.

* * *

After breakfast Light left the hotel for some shopping. Misa stayed in the suite to continue writing names but by this time it was second nature for her.

At the book store, Light bought two journals, one for his father and another one to think up more humane ways to create a perfect world. "I don't want my father to die" Light thought "He is too precious to me, a figure I love. If I die, he needs to move on with his life. I have discovered how precious life is and how you shouldn't waste a second of it." At the thought of buying the other journal Light thought "The way I have been going is evil just nothing but pure evil. I need a better way to make a better world."

After that, Light went to a CD store to buy a Christmas gift for Misa. Christmas with her for the last few years had become typical. He needed a surprise to make her happy. His care for Misa would make her birthday a lot different than usual.

After he finished his shopping, Light decided to go to the park bench to think about his life. He thought about how he got this far and how it made his life nothing but miserable. Light knew he could never move on with his life after all he has done. He continued thinking about how much better everything was before he got the Death Note and the times he lost his memories. "I have truly realized something" Light thought. "My true self existed before I got the Death Note and was killed when I got the Death Note. Today I will be doing two things, write in the journal I plan on giving Misa and my father and thinking up a new plan so my life is back to how it used to be. It is time to escape this life of being Kira for good. The life beforehand was just so much better."

After sitting on the park bench, Light went back to a paper shop to wrap the gift. After that he went back to the suite to hide the gift until it was Christmas.

Light simply wrote and wrote in all three regular notebooks. Writing heartwarming things to his father and Misa and writing new ideas to help make a better world.

It was then that Light started his new plan. He went onto the legend of Kira website and found the Japanese supporters of Kira. He got the location of all of those who hadn't been arrested by the NPA yet and decided to make a questionnaire for those who he said would be the new Kira for better or worse.

The first part of the questionnaire was intelligence based questions and the most important ones to answer. They were to see if the person was intelligent enough to use the Death Note and deal with what they would have to handle.

The second part of the questionnaire was what would you do questions relating to how well these people would be able to handle being Kira under the idea of constant lying.

The final part of the questionnaire was those relating to sanity. Light didn't want the next Kira to go insane when using the Death Note. The person who scored the highest would be the next Kira and would have the Death Note delivered to them with Light losing his memories in the process.

"What are you doing?" Misa asked.

"I am searching for the next person who would be worthy enough to be Kira" Light answered "Once I pick the most worthy person to be Kira. I will deliver the Death Note to him or her and lose my memories in the process. When that happens I will become the leader of the Task Force again and lead the Task Force to Kira. I have made sure that the circumstances result in me never getting the Death Note again, regardless of how long it takes. It could be one day before we find him or another five years, regardless. I would be the hero I always wanted to be again and be able to live a peaceful life."

"What about me and my memories?" Misa asked.

"I will make sure that your Death Note is buried somewhere that nobody would find it, even if they tried" Light said. "Because it is my Death Note I'm shipping, Ryuk will be the one to move to that owner. You will lose your memories in the process as well, but you'll still love me and we can be together. Can you handle that?"

"Yes" Misa replied. "I would do anything to stay with you."

"I have a question Misa" Light said in a regretful tone. "Several years ago, I got Rem to kill L and Watari so I could be god of the new world. The process made it so she would have to do it to save both me and you, which would result in her death. You have been unaffected by Rem's death but Rem cared about you a lot. So why didn't you feel the same?"

"I was a bit upset that my Shinigami died" Misa answered. "But I felt that that sacrifice was for both of us, so we could move on together. I just wanted a happy life with you and Rem got us out of danger at that point. We could be the god and goddess of the new world together."

"Yeah" Light said "I get that but Rem really hated me for what I wanted her to do. She even berated me the day she died that I am nothing but pure evil and she is ashamed that she even worked for me. It is my fault. I should have let Rem live. I should have never gained my memories back. If I didn't, we would have been home free and could have lived a good life especially hanging out with L." Light started to cry. "It is just killing a god of death makes me even more of a monster than I ever been before."

"I see now Light" Misa replied. "This is now one of your many regrets, something you would just want to erase from your mind."

"Back then", Light said, "I was nothing but a diabolical mastermind. Now I realize that that is the person I never wanted to be in the first place."

Light took several days with these projects working extremely hard while Misa was writing names of criminals by herself. Light was still able to hang out with Misa when he could and when he went out with Misa, Mello came to the suite to check on the Death Note.

It was then that the final results of the test came in and he saw many names come up. Many Japanese, and quite a few people from different countries. There was Rockuro Yagami who had the same last name as him but was from a different family. There was Brett Ward, an American now living in Japan because of how much he liked the culture. There were many others as well like Diasuke Niwa, Hideo Konda, Koji Kimoto, Hans Miyamoto, Gunpei Chino, Gina Nagata, Kazue Ida and Mari Akagi. Now all Light had to do was choose. He would look over them individually for the next few days.

* * *

On the following day, Light checked on the website to find out that it has been blocked. It was then that he checked the news website online to see what was going on when he read:

キラ救い主のウェブサイトの伝説が公式にシャットダウンします。キラのアンケートに参加しているすべての信者は、新たなキラは、可能な将来の殺人の責任の下で逮捕される

Legend of Kira the Savior website officially shut down. All followers participating in the Kira questionnaire to be the new Kira arrested under charge of possible future murder

Light also read that the people participating will be held in prison until Kira is officially apprehended.

"Dammit" Light yelled. "Just when I thought I was out, I'm pulled back in."

It was then that Light saw his conscience and yelled at him. "You did this. If you didn't have them apprehended then you couldn't have me die to redeem myself."

"Light", Light's conscience said calmly, "I didn't do anything of that sort. It was Near obviously, stop blaming me. I was just recommending what I felt was best for you, I was never trying to force it."

"He's right" Light thought. "Damn you Near, damn you to hell. You have gone to such extremes that you are preventing there to be a new Kira so you can catch me. You probably don't want me to redeem myself but the truth of the matter is that you don't really know me."

"Light", Misa taking notice, "who are you talking to?"

It was then that Light had to confess. He had been lying to her for so long about this, saying that he has been talking to himself.

"Misa" Light said starting to cry.

"Yes" Misa replied.

"If you wondering what happened back there, here is the truth" Light said "Ever since I killed Sayu I have been hallucinating two figures. The first is a younger version of me who calls out every action I committed as Kira. He calls himself my conscience. The other is an older version of me with blood on his hands, he is basically Kira without my humanity, a monster of sorts. He tries to tempt me into going into his direction and he has yet to do anything to me now. Surprisingly I feel at home with them because they both seem to understand me but at the same time I feel like I am going insane over what direction they are trying to lead me to."

"You have been hallucinated" Misa said. "I have never seen that happen to you."

"I am the only one who can see them of course" Light said. "But I was so close to getting a normal life again, to never be Kira again. But now it's like I am forced to be Kira for the rest of my life, no matter how long it is. I'm broken Misa. I don't know what to do now. That was my only plan."

Misa hugged Light, knowing he always feels better when she does so. Light had been getting more sane ever since he killed Sayu but now there was the possibility both figures could make Light go insane over how isolated he was. Without Misa, Light truly was lonely.

It was then that Light spoke "If there is a new way, I'll be the first in line but it has to work."

* * *

That night there was a knock on the door of Light and Misa's suite. Light opened the door to see Kiyomi Takada on the other side.

"Takada", Light said, "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Light", Takada answered, "I am not checking in, but I came here because I heard you were here on this floor."

"I understand" Light answers "Come in."

"So you the police haven't captured you" Light asked.

"I have been avoiding the police as much as possible" Takada said with a frown on her face "As soon as I heard the announcement that they would go after Kira supporters, I immediately quit my job and decided to live more low key, at least until it's over."

"So what happened to Kira's Kingdom?" Light asked.

"Sakura TV was forced to shut it down upon the news" Takada answered "It left many jobless. Some recovered others did not"

"That is devastating" Light said. "So why are you here?"

"I need guidance" Takada said "I need somewhere to go until it is all over"

It was then that Light confessed. "Kiyomi, I have to tell you the truth right here and now." Light took out his Death Note. "Takada", he said, "I am Kira. These are the names of many criminals I have killed."

"Oh Light" Takada said holding Light.

"I have tried whatever I could to stop what's going on and nothing worked" Light said "The 7 police stations I got to shut down are now back and fully operating." Light hugged Takada.

"What do you want me to do?" Takada said.

"Get off the grid" Light answered. "I was able to get Teru Mikami off the grid as well. Avoid major cities, go to towns where people won't recognize you and if push comes to shove, leave the country."

"I understand" Takada answered.

"You should leave here immediately" Light said. "This place has been heavily occupied with the police recently. If they recognize you, you'll be jailed. Understand that?"

"Yes" Takada answered.

"Kiyomi", Light said, "It is time for you to leave. I can't be with you right now. I don't think I can be with you under these circumstances."


	18. Criminal

_**Chapter Seventeen – Criminal**_

* * *

On Christmas morning, Light left Misa shorting after breakfast saying he had to go somewhere before he could celebrate her birthday and Christmas. Light got the location to the place he wanted to go to about a week before Christmas. He took the metro to the house. It was Yuri Takashi's house. He arrived there at about 10:00 am, he would celebrate Christmas with Misa at 12:00 pm. He knocked on the door and it took about a minute for Yuri to answer it.

"Light", Yuri said, "I haven't seen you since Senior year."

"Yeah" Light said. "I'm sorry for your loss. Sudou wanted you to have this. It was suppose to be your Christmas present from him."

"Thank you" Yuri said in a somber tone. "We were suppose to get married by April and he promised that he would be able to hang out with me once he was able to return, but" Yuri started to cry, "he never did."

"He wanted me to give you this as a present" Light answered. "He said we would see you together. I gave him my promise but couldn't live up to that promise as much as I wanted to."

"You know Light", Yuri answered, "I never cared whether he supported Kira or not. He was a nice guy I enjoyed being around. It is totally unfair that the police killed him because it was rumored he worked for Kira. I loved him, and he loved me back. I just wanted to live a happy life with him but we couldn't keep our promises."

"I'm sorry" Light said with a regretful face. "He was a friend to me as well and losing him was like losing a part of my soul. I will never get him back."

"It isn't your fault" Yuri said. "It is mine for not getting back to him sooner."

Light questioned Yuri's words that is wasn't his fault. Of course it was. If he was never Kira, Sudou would still be alive. If he never killed Sayu, Sudou would still be alive. If he never got the Death Note back, Sudou would still be alive. All these regrets of people he couldn't save and so many people he killed without a second thought. "This lose was just as big for her as it was for me" Light thought. "So we are pretty much even. I lost a friend, she lost her future husband and it is all my fault."

"Do you want to come in?" Yuri said. "We have hot chocolate for the day."

"Sorry" Light answered. "I have to celebrate Misa's birthday today so I can't stay very long."

"Light", Yuri said, "I have always been a friend of yours since high school. Maybe we should be together. I think you would be as worthy a husband as Sudou was."

These words shocked Light. As much as he cared about Yuri at this time, he wasn't worthy of being her husband at all, especially after all the crimes he committed as Kira.

"Sorry Yuri", Light said, "but I am not worthy of being your husband, I never was" It was then that Light started to leave Yuri.

"Why?" Yuri said crying. "You have to have a reason. Sudou was one of a few people during high school that truly understood me but you understand me just as much as he did."

"Yuri", Light said in a sad tone, "you remember that bus incident during senior year?"

"The bus trip to Space Land" Yuri said. "Yes I do remember."

"It was me" Light said. "It was always me."

These words shocked Yuri. Was he responsible for the bus incident back then? To Light it was obvious he did it, it was all his fault. But Yuri didn't know Light was Kira and at these words she was starting to think he was. Yuri didn't know what to think of Light anymore. She didn't know if she should love him or hate him. Love him because he was always a person she really enjoyed being around or hate him for possibly being responsible for Sudou's death. Light was leaving and she was silent. Yuri still cared about Light but didn't know what to think of him as a whole. Light spoke those words so she wouldn't come after him. He was trying to save her from following him and possibly going in the same direction he did. There were already four Kira's, there shouldn't be anymore.

Light was crying while he made it back to the suite. He was sad for Yuri, sad for himself and his love and care for people made him a better person but it was too dangerous to be around him. He didn't want to see another person suffer after this time. It upset him that Misa was still killing criminals to keep him alive. The thing was, Light wanted to die at this point but felt he couldn't do it because he was afraid of what would happen to Misa if he did. He couldn't even write in his Death Note at this point it was so painful.

* * *

The trip back to the suite took about an hour and when he got there he waited a few minutes for Misa to be ready and then they got the presents out. This Christmas was going to be more social. They both had five gifts for each other. Light had three birthday gifts and two Christmas presents. Misa had five Christmas presents. They each opened theirs one at a time to savior the moments. During this time, they got phone calls by each member of the Task Force including Light's father to have a Merry Christmas. This made Light feel better and he had saved the best present for Misa for last.

She opened her gift to see it was a CD by Nightmare called The World Ruler.

"Oh Light" Misa said. "That's amazing. I love this band but I never had any songs other than The World and Alumina to listen to. This is great."

"Yeah", Light said, "I always knew you were a big fan of these guys but I never got the opportunity to buy an album from them until now. Happy Birthday Misa."

"Oh that's amazing" Misa said. "This is the best birthday ever. I don't want this day to ever end."

"Me too" Light said to Misa. He had a lot in store for Misa today. They couldn't shop but they still had a lot of things to do. They had a movie to go to, a restaurant for dinner and they would skate on the frozen lake.

For the movie they went to see _Kyo, Koi wo Hajimemasu_, which Misa was really interested in seeing. "Oh Light" Misa said "I never thought you would be into romance."

"I'm into some romance" Light said. "Not all of them. I enjoy some of the stuff you like and I do enjoy this."

The movie was enjoyable for the both of them. Misa especially. It was then that Light took her to the highest site he was ever able to be at in Kanto to show her the view.

"Oh Light", Misa said, "it's beautiful. The view is amazing."

"You like it?" Light asked "My parents use to take me here all the time when I was young and when Sayu was around they did the same." It was at that time that regretful thoughts of killing Sayu came back to him but Light was able to keep his cool just to make Misa happy. It was her smile that made him feel better, ever since Sudou's death. Misa's smile of pure happiness was one of those things that made him feel better. It was at these times that Misa reminded him of his sister. They were pretty similar in behavior. They were both upbeat, happy and enjoyed hanging out with Light, though Misa was more ditzy but since Light had become more caring, Misa became less cruel and bit more understandable. In the end they were both broken.

"Ah", Misa said, "I can see your house from here."

"Yeah", Light said, "I wish I had seen my parents today, but I just had trouble putting it on my schedule" Light really missed home a lot. His house was one of the few remaining places of his childhood innocence, something he wanted back as soon as possible. He remembered all the day he played with his sister during that time, especially when he was 10.

"Light look" Misa said "The birds are really flying this afternoon."

Misa had all the kills done early in the morning, so they could really and truly celebrate a great holiday.

After being at this site, Light and Misa went back into town for some hot chocolate. The hot chocolate shop was close to the coffee shop.

"Light", Misa asked, "do you want to celebrate the New Year with me?"

"Of course" Light said. "It would be great to see the clock strike midnight with you. It would be very great to enjoy celebrating the New Year at the best party sites. I have never done it before but I bet you would really enjoy it a lot."

"Light", Misa said, "promise me that you will take me to the fireworks."

"I will" Light responded.

After having hot chocolate, Light and Misa went out to dinner and to Misa's favorite place. The place had sweeter meals than most places they went to and it was a place Light had never tried before because he never asked Misa what her favorite place was to eat.

At nighttime they skated at the frozen lake. Light didn't have much experience so he fell down easily.

"What's wrong?" Misa asked.

"Sorry" Light responded. "Just never went ice skating before."

"Then let me help" Misa said as she took Light's hand. "Hold onto me and you won't fall."

Light held onto her. "Now", Misa said, "take one arm away and hold me by the hand"

It was then that Light was side by side holding Misa's hand. "Now just follow what I do and you'll get it soon."

"Hey", Light said, "This is a lot of fun." This was something he wanted more out of life. Trying something new. This was something that being Kira never let him do. He hung out with people to masquerade a lie but he was never able to hang out with people in these ways. He wished he could do stuff like this more often but he was never able to lose his memories permanently. He mastered it quicker than he thought he would.

It was then that Light let go of Misa and was able to balance himself on the ice. "Hey Misa", Light said, "you ever ice danced?"

"Yeah Light" Misa said. "Just follow my movements. I see you got the balancing part down."

It was then that Light and Misa danced on the ice. Light was a quick learner which is probably why he had such high grades. After sometime, Light and Misa were done and Light was tired.

"Well that was fun" Light said "I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

"Yeah Light" Misa said. "I'm upset that Christmas is over so soon. I like everything the gifts and the activities."

"Yeah" Light said. "Too bad tomorrow is just a normal day. It is rare that I get days like this"

"It truly is" said Light's conscience out of nowhere. "It seems like Misa knows about me and Kira now."

"Yes" Light said. "I told Misa about you."

"I am not surprised at the change in heart Light" Light's conscience said. "You have come a long way since I saw you being corrupted by the Death Note. You used to be so brutal but now you are a benevolent caring person. You still let Misa kill people to keep you alive but other than that you are a better person than you were"

"Yes", Light said, "I guess I am."

"Don't let those kind words fool you Light" Light's conscience said. "You are still a criminal who must be stopped. You did not make a better world Light, you have made a worse world. The world you made was oppressed with the possibility that a person could die at any given moment. If Santa Claus was real you would be getting coal for the rest of your life. You would be on the Permanent Naughty Plague."

"I know" Light said. "I'm sorry."

"But it is not just that" Light's conscience said "When you started your goal, you wanted people to worship you as a god. The Death Note made you a narcissist. People don't worship you, they fear you. They are afraid of you. It's because you that people live in paranoia. It is because of you that people are even debating the right and wrong of Kira and if you didn't kill Sayu you would have gotten worse not better as you would have never truly been given the regretful guilt of killing a loved one. The only way for you to finally go in my direction is to see the endgame."

"The endgame?" Light said.

"Yes" Light's conscience said "It is the culmination of everything that these events have lead up to."

"I already see it your way" Light said "I want my end to be quickened. I see myself as a criminal but Misa won't let go of me. For me, it just feels like I have to keep living, to make her happy and possibly to make myself happy again. I do truly want to redeem myself but at the same time I am afraid of death. I just don't know what it is like to die and the sad thing is that we can only find out once. The truth of the matter is that I want my misery to end but I also don't want to die. The real idea is that is has been a mixed bag from the moment Sudou died."

"I can understand" Light's conscience said. "Oh and Merry Christmas."

"Light", Misa said, "are you done with him?"

"Yes Misa" Light said. "I am." Light smiled. "These have truly been happy holidays."

Light and Misa walked back to the hotel and went back to the suite. Before Light went into bed, he took a shower and changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. Misa was up for a bit longer, listening to the new album Light had given her. Light wanted the pain to end but he didn't know how. He was one step away from redemption but he didn't know what path to take, now that his Death Note plan had fallen apart completely. For Light, he only had to wait for the endgame to see where he would take his life at that point. In truth the endgame was the point of no return. Light wanted to live but at the same time he didn't. That is what happens when a soul is damaged.

* * *

On New Year's Eve, Light was able to do everything he promised Misa that they would do for New Years. They had a big party in town in Kanto and watched the clock tick down to midnight. It was a new year and both had the time of their lives. It was one of a few times Light truly felt happy again after having so much misery in his life. Likewise he knew it probably would be the last time he would be truly happy in his life.


	19. A Secret Place

_**Chapter Eighteen – A Secret Place**_

* * *

After New Year's, the next few days were pretty typical for Light and Misa. Light was concerned about the things he had to write in his three notebook and Misa was concerned about writing criminal names to keep themselves alive.

On January 6th, Light and Misa got messages from Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi, Ide and Soichiro asking them to come back to the Task Force.

"Hello Light" Matsuda answered the phone "It has been a few months since you and Misa left the Task Force and I really miss your company. I look up to you people, the case felt alive and youthful but most of all you two are very enjoyable to be around. You are like your father Light, a figure for justice. Please come back."

Light answered "Yes, I will. Matsuda, I am comfortable enough to come back", and then he thought, "But I am not justice. I am just a murderer."

"Hello Light" Aizawa answered the phone. "The case has slowed down since you left, we haven't found Kira yet and I don't think we'll find him splitting up. The case needs to end sooner rather than later. You have been the heart of this case since L died. You need to come back."

Light answered "I am coming back. I will make sure this case is solved." It was then that Light thought "You'll find Kira but you won't like what you'll see."

"Light", Ide answered, "I think by now that a few others asked for you to come back but I just have to say that I miss the interaction we had together. I haven't experienced it in a quite a while."

Light answered, "I'll be back very very soon." It was then that Light thought "I don't think I'll be around for much longer."

"I just wish for your return Light" Mogi said.

"Your wish is gonna come true" Light answered.

"Light, son" Soichiro answered. "You are family but you are also the heart of this case. I don't know how much I have missed you these past few months. I have always looked up to you for being the honest son that you are and following in my footsteps. Ever since Sayu died, there has been a disconnect between us. We really haven't been the family we used to be. I remember when you joined the Task Force. I remember when you stopped the armed robber when you were 10. You'll always be my son. You are one of a few people I have left to live for. So don't go dying on me. You are a great son and a figure in my life. So I hope you come back."

"Yes dad" Light answered "I am coming back to the Task Force so don't worry about me" Light thought "I am not a great son. I am a terrible son. He says he doesn't want me to die but dying seems to be the direction I am going in. I am not the leader of this case I am just a mole in charge of setting red herrings for these people. I am the thing they hate and I hate the fact but there is nowhere else to go. I hate what I have done with my life. I hate it but how do I escape it without losing Misa or my father or the rest of the Task Force?"

It was then that Light thought again "I have lied for them for so long. They were nothing but tools but now I see them as friends. My interaction with them has always been genuine but I never felt lonely with them. I never thought this before but now I think of them as friends, just as much as Sudou and L were like friends to me. I couldn't save Sudou and I betrayed L. I am nothing like I used to be, nothing. I am not that young idealist who wanted to help people or the psychotic serial killer the Death Note made me. I am broken, that is who I am. It is strange how much I have changed over the years."

"So are we going or not?" Misa asked "I miss Matsuda."

"Yeah" Light said calmly. "Lets pack up."

* * *

It took Light and Misa about an hour to pack up but when they were finished they decided to check out of the hotel. Light decided to change back into the business suit he hadn't worn in a while. When they checked out, Mello snuck into their room to discover neither Death Note was there, so he went to the front desk to realize that Light and Misa checked out.

"Near", Mello said ,"Light and Misa have checked out of the hotel."

"Good" Near said. "That means they are returning to the Task Force."

"I think so" Mello said. "But just in case, contact the Task Force tomorrow."

"Mello", Near answered, "when I find a date to have the meeting, make the switch. If you don't we are dead."

"Yes" Mello answered. "I will. I will find another apartment near the Task Force."

"That is fine" Near said. "We must maintain contact. You have to be there for the endgame."

* * *

It took Light and Misa about 30 minutes to get back to the Task Force. He and Misa were greeted with claps by everyone there but they saw suspicious faces from everybody but Matsuda and Soichiro. Light thought, "Almost everybody here is thinking of the possibility that I am Kira and they are right, but for now I can just lead them to Kira." Light settled back at his desk and said thank you.

"It's great to have you back" Matsuda said. "You know how lonely I felt without you."

"Lonely?" Aizawa questioned. "You were with me most of the time and your stupidity was boggling at times. You are a smart person Matsuda but pretty below average for a police detective. I even had to keep you away from my daughter for misunderstanding parts of the justice system, in which she wants to be a part. You truly are an idiot if you think you were truly lonely."

"Ah Matsui" Misa hugged Matsuda. "You know how much I miss being around you."

"Ah, okay" Matsuda said with an uncomfortable face. "Misa could you get off me."

"I think Matsuda meant he simply felt lonelier without me around" Light said. "I think this is a misunderstanding."

"Light son", Soichiro said, "it is great to have you back. I have missed you for so long."

"Yeah" Light said. "I have missed you as well." Light's words were honest to the Task Force, they really were friends to him now. The thing he felt uncomfortable about with them was lying again. He now hated every lie he told for the hole it made in his life. His conscience said that he needed to see the endgame to realize that his direction was right. Light was more than ready for the endgame but he was afraid of it as well.

Misa got her kills in for the day as Light was able to finally enjoy his time with the Task Force. By the end of the day though, Light had to tell them that they would have to go back to work the following day. "Tomorrow", Light said, "we are going back to work on this case. Kira needs to found sooner rather than later, so we need to start thinking like him again. These are humans he is killing. They have families, and he doesn't realize that. It is time to show him what happens when you cross the line multiple times. Is everybody with me?"

It was then that everybody, even Misa, said "Yeah" one at a time. Even with the interaction with the Task Force, Light didn't feel comfortable telling his lies. The Task Force felt like a friendship to him. The reason Light lied for all those years was because he needed to lie to keep himself alive. Light was just a great liar because of his skill in doing it. There was nothing wrong with his brain that gave him the advantage to lie so much. The truth was that he never lied until he got the Death Note. His goal was the thing that made him lie so much and now he wished he never told those lies in the first place.

That night was different from the past few months of nights Light felt uncomfortable sleeping somewhere that was different from the hotel he stayed in. Misa wrote about a page a day in her Death Note, and he hadn't written any names since the day that Sudou died. It felt like he was turning more human now that he stopped writing people's names. It was like an addiction that he was able to get off. The problem was that the addiction was still with Misa and he hated the fact that Misa was still the heartless killer she had been. Light wanted his pain to end but Misa wanted to be around him, which was why he was writing in his books. If he died but couldn't get Misa to move on. She would commit suicide but he didn't want to break her heart to save her, he cared about her now more than ever. He had new and better ways at creating a perfect world but Misa just wanted him to be a one trick pony. If anything he was no longer the manipulator, she was.

* * *

The following day, during the case, they got a call by Near. It was the first time he contacted them in a long time.

"Hello Yagami" Near said. "I hear that you have rejoined the Task Force."

"Yes", Light said, "and I am ready to lead them to find Kira."

"N", Aizawa said, "long time, no see. You have called here to say something."

"Yes" Near said. "I am here to say that I have scheduled you guys to meet me and the Special Provision for Kira on January 24th."

"To discuss Kira" Light answered.

"To test if Kira really is part of the Task Force or not" Near said. These words shocked both Matsuda and Soichiro. "You can't" Matsuda responded. "No, Light can't be" Soichiro responded.

"I have set up the meeting place" Near said. "It will be at the Zetsubo nursery school were Korou Otoharada held several children hostage before becoming Kira's first victim. When that day comes, I will give you guys procedures for what you are going to do. Each group will take a separate car."

"January 24th" Light said. "We will be there." It was then that Light thought "Near, you and I are both responsible for Sudou's death, so when that day comes, we both die together."

"Okay" Near said. "I'll see you guys then."

Back at the SPK headquarters, since they moved out of the NPA headquarters to focus on Kira alone, Rester asked Near why he chose the nursery school for the place to be.

"I chose it because it was the place the case started" Near said. "It is the best place for the case to end."

That night, Mello switched the piece of Death Note paper for January 24th with a piece of regular paper. He did this without waking Light or Misa up. He didn't speak again until he left the building.

"You made the switch" Near said.

"Yes" responded Mello.

"Well then", Near answered, "if Light doesn't notice that means he'll lose on January 24th. Right now we should not reveal this until Kira has lost."

"Okay Captain Obvious" Mello responded. "I know that. Let's just hope this doesn't get delayed or your plan might not go the way it was suppose to."

* * *

The following day, Light woke up early and did the things he normally did but in the afternoon, he decided that he needed to take a break so he left the building he was working in with the Task Force.

It was then that Light started walking back to his house, the place he hadn't been able to go to for quite a while. The reason he was here was simply for nostalgia. During the walk he was nothing but depressed, saying the word Sayu every now and again. The path he took required him to go through the forest for a shortcut. It was there that he saw Sachiko Yagami.

Light stayed hidden as long as he could until he saw Sachiko leave to go shopping. He knew the routine around the house enough that it was practically second nature to him. Light's old room was the last source of innocence he still had in visible form. It was his room ever since his 9th birthday and over time, the room got a TV and then a computer.

After Sachiko left, Light entered the house. He recognized the kitchen, the living room and the dining room. He looked around those rooms simply for nostalgic purposes. He went upstairs and walked into his room. Light was simply a broken soul now and that room was the room he discovered the power of the Death Note. That was the room where he killed Lind L. Taylor and challenged L on TV. It was a room he hadn't been able to go back to in a long time.

It was that all the sadness and regret Light had basically exploded as he started to destroy the room. He first threw the TV to the ground, breaking the screen. Light threw everything off his shelves, breaking several things. He then threw the jar of pencils at the computer screen. He threw the keyboard across the room. He then took out every drawer he had. Finally he set off the desk trap he had installed many yearsago . The desk exploded in fire and the smoke detector went off. It was then that Light stopped, realizing he had gone too far. Light used the fire extinguisher to make the fire go out as he just stared across the room at the devastation he had caused.

Light could only say the word Sayu as he found a photograph in that room taken when he was ten. The photo had him, Sayu, and his mother and father smiling in front of the camera. It was taken during their week up in the woods during that summer. The picture was one of a few things that wasn't destroyed in the room. He took the picture and looked at it for several minutes before going into the room his late sister used to live in. He just looked around in that room and remembered the happy times he spent with Sayu, from the vacations to Hong Kong, to the times they all went out to dinner, to the times they spent as brother and sister, to the times he did her homework when she needed help on her work.

Light left the house and walked back to the headquarters he stayed at with the Task Force. He took the picture with him and decided to put it in his pocket.

"It is strange" said Light's conscience. "The only place left of your childhood innocence and you destroy it."

"I was just taking out my frustrations", Light said in a somber tone, "for what I have done with my life."

"You truly miss the old days don't you?" Light's conscience said in a caring manner.

"More than anything" Light said. "I lost Sayu, I lost a person I love and it is my fault. Destroying my room was done out of guilt. It was the room, I discovered the power of the Death Note and the room where I challenged L, and those once triumphant memories are now painful to me."

"I can understand" Light's conscience said. "It seems like you have accepted the endgame."

"Yes" Light said. "And Near is going to hell with me, even though hell doesn't exist."

"No" Light's conscience said "You can't go out like that."

"It's for Sudou" Light said. "It has always been for Sudou. Now neither of you two should interfere with this. This is personal."

"No" Light's conscience said "If you do that, you will never redeem yourself, not even in their eyes. Light, the retribution is the wrong path, you'll just die with another sin. Pride became your sin when the Death Note took control of your life. Don't make wrath be your sin now."


	20. Voice Of The Soul

_**Chapter Nineteen – Voice Of The Soul**_

* * *

On January 23rd, Light returned to the alleyway he went through after he killed Takuo Shibuimaru. It was the same place where he decided to start his goal to make a perfect world, a decision he recently regretted. It was here where he barfed out his food after realizing what he had done. It must have been a coincidence that the weather was rainy just like it was before. Except this time the weather was even more hostile, it was very windy and it was pouring. Light just walked until he got to the end of the alleyway. His face was remorseful, full of guilt and regret. His face was tilted down as he was thinking about what he had done with his life. It was then that he heard a voice.

"Light, tell me, from the moment you were born, has there ever been a time where you've actually told the truth?" said the figure behind him.

Light turned around to see both his conscience and Kira. The two figures he had been hallucinating ever since he killed Sayu. Those words were spoken by his conscience but Light recognized that phrase, it was basically the exact same thing L said to him on the day he died. Kira now had red hair and red eyes. Was he more powerful than he was before? Light's eyes turned innocent again as he knew he had to prepare for a long conversation and then he spoke.

"I always told the truth before I got the Death Note" Light said honestly "It was after I got the Death Note that I almost always lied, to keep myself alive."

"You actually answered it" Light's conscience said surprised. "That doesn't make up for all the lives you have taken, all the families you have devastated and most importantly the people you have deceived."

"I am trying to make up for it" Light answered.

"Make up for it" Light's conscience said. "You think you can make up for what you have done? You think people will forget your crimes when you die? You think you can simply rebuild your relationships, Light? No you can't. Whatever people think of you by the endgame, they will have similar thoughts about you. That is why my path to redemption is correct. It is not seeking forgiveness but understanding."

Light then turned to Kira to tell him words he had been wanting to say to him ever since Sudou died.

"Kira" Light said.

"What?" answered Kira.

"Get out of my life" Light answered.

"No" Kira said. "I am fine and comfortable right here."

"That wasn't a request" Light answered.

"That reminds me Light", Light's conscience said, "you really think your murder suicide of Near is your way out. That is retribution, that is not a good way to go out. Killing him will just make the SPK and Task Force more angry at you. It isn't redemption either, Near did nothing to your life."

"He killed Sudou" Light yelled.

"Which was your responsibility" Light's conscience yelled. "If you never let Sudou join you as Kira, he would have never died and if you didn't start making patterns of having him go to police stations, your friend may have still been here with you."

"I want to speak with L then. He would understand" Light answered.

"You think L Lawliet would understand your feelings after you killed him and Watari?" Light's conscience said. "He still can't understand why you killed him for any reason other than being Kira. You shouldn't have gone after him at all. If you stuck to your good nature, I probably wouldn't have been around and then you heartlessly killed people for petty reasons. Are you still human Light?"

"Yes" Light yelled. "I am and those were mistakes."

"Mistakes you only regretted recently" Light's conscience said. "You didn't regret them while you were doing them. You even had to guts to say you were Kira in front of Naomi. Do you know how she felt about it?"

Light was about to speak when his conscience immediately continued

"She hated it" Light's conscience said. "She was already broken at that point but you broke her even more when she was walking to her death, just for the sake of it."

"Don't listen to him Light. She was an enemy" Kira said. "How about you just kill everybody who arrives at that nursery school when you arrive. Once done, there will be nothing to stop you now." These words shocked Light.

"Don't give into his temptations Light" answered Light conscience. "You have given into Kira's temptations for such a long time. We didn't even exist then and you were giving into his temptations. It got to the point where you were no longer Light Yagami, you were just a puppet to Kira. He has been pulling your strings for a long time, twisting your mind and smashing your dreams and you were blinded by him so you didn't see a thing. So Light what is your mask and what is your true face?"

"Light Yagami is my true face" Light said. "My mask was Kira. It should have just been my mask."

"It was, at first, but for such a long time it wasn't" Light's conscience said. "Kira was you for a long time and if you didn't give into his pride and the Death Note's influence you wouldn't even be here."

"I should have never gotten that Death Note" Light said.

"If you just threw that damn thing away back then than I could respect you" Light's conscience said. "You have taken a better road, but that is not enough to redeem yourself. You know how long you have been a colossal dick? It's been about five years and you became a typical serial killer whose motivations was putting yourself over others instead of making a better world. You were a narcissist who was blindingly thinking of making a better world, which you haven't and deciding to take over the world in the process. Are you really killing criminals or are you killing innocent people who were convicted of crimes? You don't know because you were blinded."

"I don't think I killed falsely accused" Light said. "I would never stoop that low."

"Yet you stooped so low by killing Sayu and all your friends" Light's conscience said. "How are you going to live with yourself?"

"The end justifies the means" said Kira.

"The end justifies the means" Light said. "Isn't that still true?"

"Is killing Sayu justified?" Light's conscience said. "Is killing L and Watari justified?"

Light had a sad regretful face at those words. It was then that Light's conscience said "Exactly."

It was then that Light asked his conscience another question. "How about a second chance at life?" Light asked.

"Sorry Light" said Light's conscience "That is literally impossible."

"You are nothing more than a crazy serial killer" Light's conscience said. "And it took you this long to realize it. You have been using people as nothing but tools and it took you this long to realize it. It took you this long to see that a life is a life. Don't you get it? One good deed won't make up for the thousands of terrible deeds you did, but it might make people look at you a bit more sympathetically. Light, you are not a hero, not even an anti-hero. You have been nothing more than a villain for the past five years. You are not the same kid who bravely prevented a woman's purse from being stolen. You are not the same teenager who helped solve several police cases. You are not the same young adult who helped L solve the Yotsuba case. If you killed all those criminals you would be the only criminal left and you ignored those warnings. You are this terrible man because you ignored those warnings. The Death Note warped your mind to the point of not being recognizable anymore and the fact that you are now deciding to kill Near alongside yourself is not redemption."

"Then why do you want me to kill myself?" Light answered back. "Don't you care about me? I understand everything you are saying. I am not that guy anymore. I don't want to be this criminal anymore so why continue lecturing me."

"How about I lecture you" Kira responded. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten this amount of power. If it wasn't for me, and you would still be a normal person, not a god. History is written by the winners. If you win, Kira is justice no doubt about that. If you let those assholes win, Kira will not be seen as a god at all. You slowed down when you should have continued, look how wimpy you are, you are not the Light I know. The Light I know would kill people without a moment's hesitation. You don't need your family, you don't need them at all and yet you become the opposite of what you were. You used to do anything for this goal. If you want the world to worship you, you better not be fettered. You made it this far because of me, don't give up on me so soon."

At those words Light's mind was starting to get tempted to go in that direction, but he was able to shake it off after Kira done talking.

"The world doesn't worship you Kira" Light's conscience said. "They live in fear because of you. You oppressed them, so they hate you from beginning to end. You are not a hero, you are just the most disgusting thing humanity has ever created. You killed Light. From the moment he went in your direction his life was over as he knew it. The reason I lecture him is so he doesn't go off my course. If he just continued listening like he did for the past few months, he wouldn't have to deal with me as much but killing Near is the wrong thing to do… Light are you listening?" he turned to Light.

"When you stood up to that armed criminal 13 years ago, you were given gratitude as a hero" Light's conscience said. "If those people find out your Kira, they won't think the same at all and they will do anything to make sure you are behind bars for the rest of eternity."

"I'll die way before then" Light said. "I am living on Ryuk's strings. If he is out of entertainment value, he writes my name. That is why I orchestrated this plan, so I would die by someone else's hands, not his."

"Light" Light's conscience said. "You were destined to die by Ryuk's hands no matter what. It was his promise, giving up ownership is the only way to save yourself and even then you won't be able to save yourself once they find out you're Kira. The Death Note has made both a psychopath and a borderline sociopath. With a few exceptions you only cared about yourself during that time. You are not like that now but you were like that before killing Sayu broke you. There is nothing left for you Light. You are your own worst enemy, tempted like a drug dealer is tempted continue taking a drug. You need to save you from yourself, which is the key to redemption. You have mostly saved yourself right now but not quite."

It was then that Kira rejoined the argument and both sides attacked each other's words one by one. Light was in with the conversion as well as Kira and Light's conscience. Light's mind was in despair, it was breaking down but he was never expecting the madness to come back. Kira's words were almost brainwashing to him and he tried to resist as he continued to try to listen to his conscience's words. Pure goodness or absolute evil, those were the forces fighting head to head. It was starting to go through Light's mind constantly. He wanted out of his miserable life and knew what direction to go in but each word broke his mind more and more and then it just shattered.

Light let out a disturbing combination of insane laughter and regretful crying. His mind was broken at this point. Kira was starting to get to him more than ever as he tried to resist and he had more trouble staying with his conscience's direction. As long they were both around, Light feared this would happen to him again. It was the combination of two personalities, one absolute good and another absolute evil. The path to redemption was just one step away from being completed and he still had this roadblock to go through. The sound of Light's laughter and crying could be heard for at least an hour. A broken man's mind finally broke all together. What was going on right now was simply a war inside Light's head and it took about an hour to stop it.

* * *

Several hours later, Aizawa came near this alleyway in search of Light. He hadn't been working with the Task Force as much today as he had been. Aizawa was suspicious but he also knew Light's mind was broken. He looked down this alleyway to see Light lying on the ground.

Light was facing right side up. His hair incredibly unhinged, his business suit, more wet than it had ever been. Aizawa saw Light right there. He must have been laying on the ground for about an hour. He saw Light's eyes, wide open and full of sorrow and regret but also very apologetic.

It was then that Aizawa spoke to Light.

"Light", Aizawa said, "are you okay?"

It took Light about a minute to process these words but when he did, he spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Light said. "A bit hurt but fine." Aizawa didn't know that what Light meant by hurt. Light was meaning the soul pains he had felt during the argument between his conscience and Kira.

It was then that Aizawa took out his hand and Light used it to get up. They walked for a few seconds before Light asked Aizawa a question.

"Aizawa", Light said, "If I was Kira, what would you do with me?"

For Aizawa this was a stupid question. He knew what they would be doing with Kira.

"If you were Kira?" Aizawa questioned. "We would capture you and then arrest you and then wait for your punishment, possibly death."

"Yeah" Light said. "But what if Kira was broken. What if he had lost everything and had nothing left to live for? Would you still give him death, if he wanted to die? If death was simply mercy for him?"

Aizawa was intrigued by this question. He never thought of this before. "I would say", Aizawa said, "that if Kira wanted to die, we would give him life in solitary confinement, if death was just salvation for him."

"I thought so" Light said. "I'm not saying I am Kira, but I just wanted to see what you would think if Kira wanted to die."

Aizawa was still suspicious that Light was Kira and these questions only made him a bit more suspicious. It was then that Light stopped for a moment and gagged. Light then threw up all the food he ate that day.

"Light", Aizawa said worried, "are you alright?"

"Yeah" Light said. "I am…" Then Light fell to the ground and didn't speak a word.

Before Light fell to the ground he heard a few words from his conscience. "Light, when you enter that nursery school, Kira will be coming for you. Don't give into his temptations."

Aizawa was scared for a moment and then picked Light up. He was going to take Light back to the Task Force and wake him up.


	21. Damaged Soul

_**Chapter Twenty – Damaged Soul**_

* * *

A few hours later Light woke up in bed, in his pajamas. He must have passed out for about 3 hours at least. His father was there, as was Misa and the rest of the Task Force. Light was a bit confused as well because he was unconscious for quite a while so he asked Aizawa what happened.

"What happened back there?" Light asked Aizawa.

"You passed out while we were walking back so I had to carrying you here" Aizawa said. "You must have been out in the rain for a long time. Long enough to get sick. You were at a damp and dirty place back there and Matsuda took your temperature. You apparently have a high fever."

"So that means I can't come to the meeting tomorrow" Light said trying to get up only to feel some pain.

"You're too weak to do it Light" Matsuda said. "We are going to contact Near, and ask him to delay the meeting."

"If that is the case, I think it will take me 7 days to fully recover" Light said. "At least I am comfortable here."

"Do you need anything Light?" said Soichiro.

"I need a cup of hot tea and then a long rest" Light said. "Could you leave me alone with Misa as well."

During that time, Misa was able to finish writing the names of the criminals she decided to kill that day. She was watching over Light as he was sleeping. She noticed Light was having nightmares because of the behaviors she saw while he slept. Light was actually having nightmares of the upcoming encounter he was going to have with Near, ranging from realistic to a surreal nightmare of Near being a god of death. Light was dreaming of things to come and because of how miserable his life had become it wasn't a surprise.

Back in the room where the Task Force worked, Aizawa was able to contact Near. The screen showed a big N like it usually did as Aizawa started to speak.

"Near", Aizawa said, "we have to delay our meeting."

"What do you mean we have to delay our meeting?" Near said. "What's wrong?"

"Apparently Light got a fever today and he won't be strong enough to do this until at least January 30th."

"The latest date I can do this at is February 1st" Near said. "If this is the case, I think that would be the best day for us to do it. We will all meet at the nursery school on February 1st."

"February 1st it is" Aizawa said. "We better not have any more delays."

"Trust me" Near said. "We won't."

While Light was sleeping he was beginning to think of everything he went through in his life and was able to find days where he was truly happy. Light now thought that the days he was truly happy were the days he wasn't the owner of the Death Note, the days he truly missed from his life and it is all because he got that Death Note. Light began to think of what his Conscience said that Kira was coming for him once he entered that nursery school. Did Kira really have the power of taking over him again? Kira had temptations but Light wasn't sure if he had enough control over himself to erase Kira from his mind. What did it mean to erase Kira from his mind? Did it mean to forget he was Kira at all or did it mean just eliminate that hallucination from his mind. He wasn't sure? Light would need to find out before he entered the nursery school but he didn't know how to do this.

After several hours of sleep, Light finally woke up. With his lack of strength he was still confined to the bed. At the moment of waking up he thought "I am alive, but I don't want to be alive" It was then that he saw Misa on a stool near the bed. He then asked Misa the question he had been wanting to ask her since he got his memories back again.

"Misa" Light said.

"Light" Misa said back.

"Misa" Light said. "I don't think I'll last much longer so please Misa, go on without me."

"No Light" Misa said "You were the one person I truly felt alive with. You can't leave me now."

"Misa" Light said. "There is more to life than just me. I may have been the person to give you a new reason to live but that doesn't mean there are not other reasons to live as well. I thought the Death Note gave me a new reason to live, but the truth is that is made me wish my life away."

"But Light", Misa said, "you have been like an idol to me. A figure to look up to."

"Misa" Light said. "Nothing lasts forever, not even me. I don't know when I'll die but when I do, you must move on." The truth of the matter was that Light did know when he was going to die. He was going to die on February 1st alongside with Near and he was planning this ever since they made contact with Near again.

It was then that Light said to Misa "Could you hug me?" and Misa did it without demand. Misa's hugs always made Light feel better ever since he killed Sayu. It was the only way of knowing that there were people who still cared about him a lot and he cared about them. Light was nothing but a damaged soul now, a stray dog trying to find its owner but getting lost all the time. He was practically crippled as a human being and there wasn't much left for him to do.

"Misa" Light said. "I will still be with you even after I die. You must realize this."

"But you won't" Misa complained.

"Trust me Misa" Light said. "I will. I have gone too far. I've lost too much to turn back now. The fact is that I care about you and I want you to be happy. I just might have to make this sacrifice."

"You might" Misa thought. "He didn't say when he was going to die."

"Misa" Light said. "You have been writing criminals names behind my back. You care about me so much to keep me alive. Can you see that I care about you to want to keep you alive? We are both broken souls, Misa. You lost your parents while I lost my sister and if it wasn't for our decision making, they would still be alive. We cared about them enough that it changed our direction in life and it led us to this point. Me and you, we are not so different. We are very similar and it hasn't been till recently that I have seen this."

"I can understand" Misa replied. "You want me to keep you company?"

"Yes" Light said. "I feel more comfortable when you are around."

* * *

Back at the hotel Mello and Matt were staying at, Mello found that the room smelled smokier that usual.

"Matt" Mello yelled. "How many packs have you smoked today?"

"About six" Matt said. "What's the problem?"

"Could you slow down on those?" Mello said. "It is getting annoying. You commented to me to slow down eating chocolate and now I am commenting on you to slow down with all the smoking you have been doing."

"Who cares" Matt said. "It's just me. Plus we haven't told Near to slow down on the seafood diet. It is not like he eats his toys."

"Yeah" Mello said. "Because it would be disgusting if he did."

It was then that Mello's cell phone range and it was Near.

"Near", Mello said, "why are you calling me?"

"This is urgent Mello" Near said. "The meeting has been delayed until February 1st. We must make the switch tonight or they will notice the fake."

"Got it" Mello said. "I am going right now. They are deep asleep by midnight, so I will be able to do it at that time."

"I have found the page you should do it" Near said. "Once I tell you, remember the page number. If you mess this up, the plan I had falls apart."

"Got it" Mello said "And it is not like I messed up before. If L was still alive, I wouldn't need to do this shit."

"Mello", Near said, "if L was still alive, neither of us would have to do this at all."

It was then that Mello arrived that the headquarters and switched the pages when Light and Misa were asleep.

"The job is done" Mello said.

"Good job Mello" Near answered "I'll see you on February 1st."

"Got it" Mello said.

At the SPK Headquarters, Near was celebrating a premature victory.

"Everything has fallen into place" Near thought. "Light and Misa are in the position where they have no choice but to come to the Zetsubo nursery school. For over five years this case has gone on and it is finally going to come to an end. Since L wasn't able to stop Kira, it will have to be me. Friday will be a very important day. It will be the day where Kira will be truly put to the test. If Kira wins than we have one last trump card just in case; Linda. If he loses, it will prove that Kira is not the way this world should work. You can't change the world but that is what makes the world so great. Kira stole this planet from everybody. He is the sickness and I am the cure. Kira, who are you, because I am more than interested on seeing you in person."

* * *

Back in bed Light was staring into space. Misa was doing her kills as usual and he couldn't hang out with her in the condition he was in. Light felt upset again that he couldn't hang out with Misa, something that brought him happiness in the last few months. Sayu would have wanted a kinder gentler world and Light knew by now that he couldn't provide it at all and he felt sorry that he couldn't. All Light could do right now was think about where were destiny had led him. The curse that the Death Note brought to him was something he was trying to avoid. It was a self fullfilling prophecy and he knew it was his fault. He wasn't blessed, he was cursed. He told so many lies during his time as Kira that he even started believing them at one point. Kira wasn't a god, Kira was an enemy that had to be stopped and he was the only one who could stop him. Light stuck with his plan. Kira would die the same day as Near. Killing Near is what Sudou would have wanted.

"What have I done?" Light thought. "What have I become because I never wanted Kira to result in this bad a life. I hate you Kira, but I don't know how to get rid of you. You still aren't out of my life. Kira is me and I am Kira, but Kira is now an enemy to me, a thing that has made my life this way. Kira has been a problem even when I lost my memorie. My amnesic self hated Kira, so why should I be a hypocrite. I have been a hypocrite. I have betrayed everything I once stood for. I am not that 10 year old who helped stop an armed robbery. Since that day I wanted to be a man of justice like my father, but that Death Note made me become the thing I made my mission to destroy, a criminal. I am just a crazy serial killer, nothing more, nothing less. I made this goal because I thought the people who made this world rot deserved to die but now I know. They don't. It just seems like death is the only way out now. My plan to permanently make sure I never got the Death Note again failed as soon as it started. Whether people feel sorry for me in the end is their decision but fate has taken its course. If people hate me, let them hate, I deserve it. This is the play that is my life and I don't think the curtain is going to stay open for much longer."

That same day there was an argument between the Task Force.

"What do you mean that you think Light is Kira" Matsuda said. "Even if the 13 day rule is false, that doesn't mean Light is Kira. L's mock execution proved it. If Light was Kira, his father wouldn't be alive right now."

"The 13 day rule being false brings up the possibility that Light is Kira again" Aizawa said. "I've been suspicious for a long time. I think he is very likely to be Kira but whether I am right or not is all based on what happens on February 1st. If he isn't Kira, then I'll admit I'm wrong but the problem is that there is no complete evidence on either side."

"Light is the heart of the Task Force" Matsuda said. "He is leading us to victory."

"Victory", Ide said, "or just another red herring. I caught onto this pretty quickly but for a long time I just thought Kira had a lot of red herrings. If Kira was the person we least suspected for a long time, than that is how we should treat him. Matsuda. if Light is Kira, don't give into any of his temptations."

"Kira isn't all bad though" Matsuda said. "The crime rate has gone down by a lot and there is no more wars."

Both Aizawa and Ide answered at the same time.

"Kira is bad" they both said.

"I know but" Matsuda said to be interrupted by Aizawa.

"Kira thinks he is a necessary evil but in the end he is just pure evil" Aizawa said. "Necessary evil does not kill people who disagree with him or people who are after him. That is what has irritated me about you being a borderline Kira supporter Matsuda. You hate him but you don't. You have some understanding of him, but you have never met him before. I don't want Light to be Kira as well, but that won't prevent me from taking him down if he does."

"But what if Kira is different from what you expect?" Matsuda complained.

"Then we will approach him differently" Ide said.

"We don't know if Kira regrets his crimes or not" Aizawa said. "But right now, that is not our concern. It is finding Kira. It has taken us too long to find Kira in the first place. This test Near is going to give is important in seeing who Kira really is. Near said that Kira is most likely a mole in the Task Force. If it isn't him than we are low on options. You are not Kira are you Matsuda?."

"I'm not" Matsuda said. "Why would you be suspecting me? I am just the funny guy here. I am not the smartest or brightest but I can get the job done. Remember when I helped find out who was Kira during the Yotsuba case? I was brilliant there. I did things as good as I always could. If it was Kira, I would have been caught long ago."

"We know you aren't Kira" Ide said. "Just remember his crimes are unforgivable. They always have been."

"Yeah" Matsuda said. "But can we forgive him as a person, if Kira is a broken soul? If he just wants to be put down? Can we just understand that? Kira is evil, I get that but can we feel sorry for him if he truly is broken? That is the question I have been thinking for a long time."

Light was listening to the conversation outside while he was resting. He understood everything that Matsuda was saying. Matsuda was the guy who had always looked up to him in all these years. He was a guy Light really enjoyed being around but it wasn't until recently that Light saw him as just a friend and he was afraid of what Matsuda would think of him on Friday. Was he ready to face this bullet?


	22. Endgame: Moment Of Truth

_**Chapter Twenty One – Moment Of Truth**_

* * *

It was February 1st, the day Light and the Task Force would meet Near and the SPK at the Zetsubo nursery school. The encounter wasn't until 2:00 PM so they had time to prepare for the occasion. Each person was going to receive a message by Near before they left and with the exception of Light and Misa, each group would take the same car.

Light and Misa were spending time together alone in the meantime when Light got a message from Near:

_Light Yagami, today is the day where we will test whether you are really Kira or not, so here is the jist of it. You and Misa are taking separate cars and will both take separate entrances. When you arrive Light, you will only encounter me when you are there. The rest won't arrive until after our meeting is done. When this test is over, we'll see what fate awaits you, are you innocent and will be set free or are you guilty and will be punished. We'll see._

It was then that Light thought "Like I haven't been punished enough". He turned to Misa to tell her something.

"Misa, when you arrive there", Light said, "kill the target without any hesistation. I also don't want you to kill anybody before we arrive." Light didn't like the fact that Misa was killing people to keep him alive at all. He regretted everybody he killed by this point.

"All right" Misa said as she saluted Light. "I will not let you down."

It was then that Light thought of Sudou. "I let Sudou down and he would be very upset at me. I should have saved him but I wasn't able to."

Light had a meal of Chicken Teriyaki for lunch. "I guess this is my last meal" Light thought depressingly. "Shame because if I lived my life better I would have had a lot more meals after this. I won't even make it to dinner today."

At about 1:30 PM, Light saw the car pull up. "I guess this is my ride" Light thought as he started to leave the building ready to go to the nursery school. Before Light left he got out the picture of him, Sayu and his parents taken 13 years ago and looked at it for about a minute. Then he put the picture in his pocket and left.

Misa was hanging out for about 10 minutes before she saw her car and then got into it. She finished her sushi and got her Death Note, and hid it from the driver. The night before, Mello took Light's Death Note behind his back and because Light wasn't concerned about that Death Note anymore, he didn't notice it was missing.

* * *

For the morning, Soichiro simply ate his breakfast and watched some TV. He got his lunch and by that time Near had called him.

_Soichiro, you and the rest of the Task Force, barring Light and Misa, will get your ride to the nursery school at about 1:35 PM. You are estimated to arrive at that nursery school at about 2:05 PM. Be prepared and well rested. If Light is Kira be prepared, if he isn't, just leave him be. That will be the case today. Do not disobey!_

It was then that Soichiro thought "With the 13 day rule proved wrong, I fear the worst but I have to hope Light isn't Kira. He is my son and I have looked up to him for a long time. If he is Kira then I don't know what I could think of him. I'll probably kill myself."

* * *

Matsuda had a more prominent beginning of the day. He first did his morning routine of jumping jacks before having a bowl of cereal for breakfast. After that he got his gun out to do target practice. He did this every day. He never shot the gun before but he feared there would be a time he would need to. The gun was shot once before by Light when he was 10 years old after he stopped an armed robbery. Matsuda was with Light at the moment and Light had told him to call the police. Light distracted the robber and stood up to him bravely. After Matsuda hit the robber in the head with a stick to knock him out. He went to Light to make him feel better and let Light try out his gun. Light was so shocked by using the gun that he never used one again. Matsuda got a call from Near.

_Matsuda, you and the rest of the Task Force, barring Light and Misa, will get your ride to the nursery school at about 1:35 PM. You are estimated to arrive at that nursery school at about 2:05 PM. Be prepared and well rested. If Light is Kira be prepared, if he isn't, just leave him be. That will be the case today. Do not disobey!_

Matsuda was afraid of the possibility that Light was Kira, so he decided to bring his gun, fearing the worst. At 1:35 he got in the car alongside all the rest of the Task Force and went in.

The rest of the Task Force had rather normal routines before they got their call and got into the car. Each one had different feelings on the matter and what they thought would happen this day. None of them were really scared but some of them were worried, except Aizawa who was really sure Light was Kira.

* * *

Mello was hanging out in his apartment, eating chocolate and enjoying his time with Matt when he got a call from Near.

_Mello, you are a very important part of this case, so today will be your easiest task. You will escort the Task Force and the rest of the SPK to the room me and Light are assigned to. You guys must be in the room by 2:05 at the earliest and 2:09 at the latest. You will arrive here between me and Light at about 1:55 PM. It is important that you be here. You will hide until Light has entered the room. When he is there, go to the entrance to meet Rester, Giovanni and Halle from the Special Provision for Kira and Soichiro, Aizawa, Matsuda, Ide and Mogi of the Task Force. You got this. Don't let me down Mello._

It was then that Mello started to leave the room.

"You're leaving" complained Matt.

"I got to" Mello said. "This is my last mission of the Kira case and my most important. If Near and I die, than you and Linda will continue the case without us. You got that?"

"Yeah" Matt said. "I know, but when you guys capture Kira, can you guys please take him to Alcatraz. That would be so cool for a jail cell."

"The Rock" Mello said. "yeah maybe we will come around to doing it" Mello joked. It was then that Mello left.

"Kira", Mello thought, "you have been around for far too long. This time you are fucking going down."

* * *

At 2:00 PM, Light had arrived at the nursery school. It was then that he thought "Well I guess the Kira case started here; I guess it is going to end here as well."

He got the location of the room they would make their encounter. The school shut down about three years ago, so it meant that Near didn't have to care about the schedule and because the school wasn't demolished, Near could use it anyway.

Light entered the classroom and saw Near in the center. After all this time he was finally able to meet Near face to face. Light closed the door.

"The door is locked from the inside, so that while you can enter the room, you can't exit the room" Near said. "This was made as a special precaution in case one of you are Kira."

"No escape" Light thought. "Near, I knew you were clever but I don't need an escape. You are going down with me."

"It is nice to meet you Near" Light said. "I have never met you before, so it is an honor."

"You are here to see if you are really Kira or not" Near said. "You better hope you fail my test."

"I don't need to pass or fail your test" Light thought. "Once you are taken care of, I am going to die as well."

"You know", Near said, "this is the same classroom that Kurou Otoharada died in. So I have to say that it is interesting that the case will end in the same room as well."

"The hell it will" Light thought. "There is nothing left for me."

"You heard my phone call didn't you because if you didn't you will be confused" Near said.

"I heard your phone call" Light said. "And I wouldn't be confused if you didn't call me."

"I can understand why you got the position of the new L" Near said. "You are smart like L and me but you'll never be able to replace what made L really special."

"His obsession with sweets" Light said.

"How he solved cases" Near said. "He thought like the criminal and so do I, but he went deeper than anyone ever could to solve murder cases and until the Kira case, he had never been stumped, not even once."

"Yeah" Light thought. "I really regret getting my memories back and killing L. It was a lost friendship I can never bring back."

"Light", Near said, "there are a few rules to this test. The first is that if you protest anything we do to see if you are Kira, than we will believe you are Kira. The second is that if you try to escape in anyway, than you are Kira. If you complain about one thing, even one, than we will assume suspicion of you being Kira, There is no other way it can go around."

"Dammit" Light thought. "When Near prepared for this he really prepared. But it sounds like he was lying on the phone or was he telling a half truth. I don't know but now my plan could really be in danger."

* * *

At the entrance Soichiro, Matsuda, Aizawa , Ide and Mogi met Mello and the SPK. "You all can follow me" Mello said. "I know the room we will be in."

When Mello met Near here before Light arrived he asked Near a question "Why are you planning it like this?" It was then that Near responded "Of all the people here, I think Kira would want me the most. If anything I have pissed him off enough to make me his number one enemy. We are going to throw a curve ball at him to see if he can handle himself under this amount of pressure.

Then Soichiro said "Why should I trust you? If it wasn't for you my daughter would still be alive."

Mello responded "I was not concerned whether your daughter lived or died at the time. I was concerned about getting that damn Death Note. Your care for your daughter is none of my concern; it is the case that comes first. I am sorry for your loss, but the case still comes first."

"Mello has been part of the SPK for the past few months" Halle said. "So if you don't like him in any manner you should talk to us about it."

"I don't trust Near" Aizawa said. "He is too complex in how he wants things to be done. If we are going to find out whether Light is Kira or not we should put him in confinement like we did many years ago."

"Yeah Aizawa" Matsuda said. "That is what I was thinking as well."

"Near does things his own way" Giovanni said. "If you don't like it, than we don't care what you think. Now quit your talking or we'll be late."

"Giovanni is right" Mello said "Please follow me"

It was then they walked to the room Light and Near were in.

* * *

When they entered, Light was shocked but he had to maintain his cool to make sure he didn't derive suspicion. "Dammit Near" Light thought. "You have fully taken advantage of this encounter. I still don't know when Misa is arriving but when she does, she should just kill you. I said to kill the targe. I hope she doesn't misunderstand."

"Hello" Near said. "Welcome to the room where Kurou Otoharada held kids hostage before he died. The door is locked from the inside, so that while you can enter the room, you can't exit the room. This was made as a special precaution in case one of you is Kira."

"All right" Soichiro said. "Can someone tell me the explanation for this. Are we supposed to believe that my son is Kira?"

"This is to see whether Light really is Kira or not" Near said. "If he fails the test, than he isn't Kira. I will tell you one thing, it is that none of you are going to die today."

"Formidable words Near" Light thought. "You and me are going to die together. I just hope Misa doesn't mess this up."

The clock was ticking, these were the longest five minutes of Light's life and he was getting more and more frightened. It was then he saw Kira. Kira was mostly the same but this time his hair was red. He came closer to Light. "So this is what my conscience meant by Kira coming after me today. I must resist his temptations. I have resisted so much recently but he tempted me easily beforehand. I must stop Kira today I must. Where is my conscience when I need him"

"Hello Light" Kira said. "Remember me?

"Yes I do" Light thought. "Now go away."

"You see these people here?" Kira said. 'They are nothing but pawns, insects to your game. If you kill them today, you are free to rule the world as you please."

"Must resist" Light thought. He was struggling. The clock was ticking down. Misa was going to arrive here in a few minutes. He must resist Kira, if he doesn't than he is caught prematurely.

Misa had the Shinigami eyes, so she would know the names of everybody in this room except her own. Near must have known this, taking information from the files L had in store before he died. Light was now just hoping that she wrote only Near's name and not anybody elses name except his. That would be going too far. He cared about these people, especially his father and Matsuda. This must go right. After those two names were written in his last 40 seconds he would make sure Misa abandons ownership of the Death Note and moves on with her life.

"Hey Light" Kira said. 'There is no point resisting. You became me before, it will happen again. Stop your desire to die and live on with me. I loved you so many times from when you killed Raye and Naomi to when you killed L. There was nothing better than how you treated those deaths. You don't need your family either. You just need me and the world is yours."

This hallucination in Light's mind, he was a monster. His conscience was right. He wanted nothing more than to rule this world with an iron fist, decaying from the path he once took. Kira used to have motives but now he was just a brutal dictator and Light had to get rid of him. Kira was the embodiment of evil. The enemy inside him that the Death Note awoke. He was the person Light hated the most and his words were just tempting him some more. It was getting difficult to resist.

It was then that Kira took out his ultimate weapon, a bloody knife. It was like the same knife Beyond Birthday used when he was doing his killing. Light only knew about Beyond Birthday in two instances. The first was that Beyond Birthday was the name of one of the person who L had defeated in another set of mind games. L solved the BB Los Angeles Murder Case sometime before the Kira Case started and he had Naomi Misora (a person Light killed) to solve the case. He found out this information skimming through L's files. He also remembered that Beyond Birthday was one of the people he killed in his Death Note and when he saw pictures of BB, Light was surprised about how much he looked like L.

Kira's knife was out and he was threatening Light. "Light, isn't your life important to you?" he said. "Is it no longer important to be the god and Misa being the goddess of the new world? Tell me Light, how you really felt killing all those people. You are free Light. There are no strings attached to you."

Light remembered how he felt killing those people and he knew he treated those deaths as victories but he regretted them more than ever. Kira was starting to take control of Light's mind again. He remembered this feeling when he encountered both Kira and his Conscience in the alleyway. It was brainwashing yet the less he resisted the less painful it would be. Light was trying so hard to resist but Kira was starting to get to him more and more. He remembered this feeling when he was killing all of Sayu's friends and he was starting to lose control. He needed to come to his senses. This was the same drug like effect that the Death Note had. It was then that Kira took control.

On the door on the other side of the room Misa was there seeing the names of everybody in the room. "Well Light, said to kill the target but I wasn't expecting multiple targets" Misa thought. "Darn, it looks like I might have to kill Light's father." Then she wrote all the names of people in the room except her own and Light's. Misunderstanding what Light meant by kill the target.

After Near took notice of Misa, he was sure that she was done writing other people's name so he began to speak. "Misa could you come in". "Sure" said Misa.

"Light", Near said, "you don't mind this do you?"

"No" Light said. "I am fine with it."

The seconds were ticking down very slowly as Light prepared for their deaths now that Kira was in control of him once more. Deep inside the regretful Light Yagami was trying really hard to regain control but there were too many temptations in his mind. In less than 40 seconds it would be all over. The moment of truth was about to arrive. This was the final battle in the Kira Case and currently Light had no control over himself at this moment. He was a puppet to Kira again.

Just before the 40 seconds were up, Light spoke once more, in a psychotic way Kira usually spoke. "Well it looks like I win Near" and then time ran out.


	23. Endgame: Overburdened

_**Chapter Twenty Two – Overburdened**_

* * *

The 40 seconds ran out and then nothing happened. Everybody, every soul in that room was alive. Light was surprised at this, but he had to defend himself when it was time. Everybody was surprised except for Near, Mello and the SPK. The shock filled the room for about a moment and it was then that Matsuda spoke.

"We're alive" Matsuda said. "Near it has been over a minute since she wrote our names and we are still alive."

"Didn't I say nobody would die" Near said. "Now isn't this surprising, Kira wrote our names and nothing happened. But did she write all of our names?"

"No, this can't be" Misa yelled. "Light, I did, I did everything you told me and nothing happened."

"Rester, Giovanni restrain Misa for attempted murder" Near said. After Misa was restrained, he asked Rester to give him the notebook.

"Well I see it now" Near said and then he showed the names that were written. "All of our names have been written except Light's and Misa's and Misa was clearly following your orders, Light, as she said about a moment ago. I think it is settled. Light Yagami is Kira and Misa Amane is the second Kira."

It was at this moment that Light freaked out at all the evidence being stacked against him.

"No" Light said and then he yelled "No, No, No. You can't base it on such flimsy evidence. How can you be so sure that I am Kira? You didn't see me kill anyone, plus Near said nobody would die. That has to be a bluff. If Kira was in this room, we would be dead already. This, this is all just a conspiracy, a damn conspiracy to try to scapegoat all these crimes against me" Light was starting to throw a tantrum. "You see how it is, Near's methods are just as bad as L's methods, basing it all on assumptions."

Light spoke quietly "This has to be a trap. You set Misa up and manipulated all of us. If she really is Kira, than why aren't we all dead?" Light was starting to act like a madman. "I have been trying to find Kira for years and I haven't been successful." Then, all the faces in there, except for Misa's turned to Light "Why are you looking at me like this?" Light said in a scared tone. "Why?"

"I was not bluffing Light" Near said "You and your accusations. The evidence here clearly supports the fact that you and Misa are Kira. Why can't you just accept that? There is no scapegoat. Just because you are or should I say were in charge of the Task Force doesn't mean you should be the only one to go after Kira. Plus we don't need to see Kira kill somebody, we just need to see Kira acting like Kira."

It was at that moment that Light saw his conscience. Light's conscience spoke.

"Give it up Light. You lost" Light's conscience said. "You confessed to being Kira about a few moments ago. Why can't you just accept that?"

It was at that moment that Aizawa came up to Light and put his hand on Light's shoulder.

"Near has won, Light, you have to accept that" Aizawa said. "A few moments ago you said "Looks like I win." how much more of a confession do we need?"

Matsuda fell to his knees in a sad manner "Light" was the only word he could say.

It was at that time that Soichiro went up to Light. He looked upset but he knew he had to handle this as a police officer. He spoke like he didn't know Light was his son at all.

"Light," Soichiro said, "you are under arrest for mass homicide."

"D-Dad" Light spoke in a scared manner.

It was at that moment that Halle went up to Light and got her hand cuffs out. "Light, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me? These are the US Miranda Rights, there is no warning in Japan but you are going to be charged on a worldwide crime" Just before Halle could handcuff Light, Light ran straight to the chalkboard.

It was at that moment that Near stood up. "So Light", Near said, "I wonder how it feels to be defeated."

"Don't you dare ask that question" Light thought. "It's not over."

"Now Light" Near said. "Here is how I defeated you. After Sayu's death, I started being suspicious that you were the one who was responsible, which got me thinking. L once spoke that Kira was holding the world hostage so what did I do. I decided to hold Kira hostage. I was waiting for this moment ever since L died."

"So this is vengeance" Light yelled. "You are only doing it for vengeance. You are trying to avenge L's death so you decided to go after me."

"No we didn't" Mello said seriously.

"Yes" Near said "Mello is right. We never went after you because we were trying to avenge L's death, we went after you because we had to complete the case."

Near continued to talk "This is where I started Operation Oxymandias. With Operation Oxymandias, we could watch over you and by taking control of the NPA, I could make sure that you could be as weak as possible. I got the police to arrest as many Kira supporters as possible to distract you, which was called Project Purge. Mello joined the case at just the right time. After he got kicked out of the Mafia, I decided to give him the activity of spying on you to see what you have been doing. Sudou was the fourth Kira, and the person who helped Kira shut down the police stations. If he wasn't stopped, the operation would be in danger. We had to lure you out after you left the Task Force and after that I got Mello to switch the piece of Death Note paper today with a piece of regular paper."

"No" Light yelled. "That's inconceivable."

Near continued talking. "And if you are wondering what happened to your Death Note…" Near got out Light's Death Note, which was underneath his shirt. "If you want to see a god of death, you better touch this. Mello stole this notebook for me." It was then that everybody except Light and Misa touched that Death Note, following Near's orders even if they could already see Ryuk.

"Now everybody can see the Shinigami here" Near said turning to Ryuk. "Mr. Shinigami I have a few questions for you."

"Yeah sure" Ryuk said. "My name is Ryuk, I can answer your questions."

"The first was suppose to be about the 13 day rule but I already debunked that" Near said "I discovered the rule was false I got Mello to take a piece of Death Note paper from Light and Misa." It was then that he took out that piece of paper. "These are all criminals that I killed with the Death Note behind Kira's back and I am still alive after 13 day. but Ryuk, is this rule still false."

"Of course it is" Ryuk said. "This rule doesn't even exist at all."

It was then that Light thought "Ryuk you traitor."

"This also debunked the idea that you can't write any names if the piece of Death Note paper is taken from the Death Note" Near said.

"That is true as well" Ryuk said.

"One last question Ryuk" Near said. "If you burn the Death Note what happens? Even more what happens if you give up ownership of the Death Note?"

"If you burn the Death Note", Ryuk said, "the only thing that would happen is that the users of that Death Note would lose their memories and if you give up ownership of the Death Note that simply means you will lose your memories of using it."

"Your questions are done Ryuk" Near said. "So now this explains why Light was acting so differently during the Yotsuba case. He didn't have any memories of using the Death Note and it was all part of a plan to deceive L and the Task Force into thinking Light wasn't Kira and so once Light got his memories back, he could kill L and get his position. So now that that is over with, Light I want to see you defend yourself, If you can"

It was at that moment that Light was absolutely still and scared. He was in some state of shock, but at that time he spoke a bit more normally as Kira was losing a bit of his control. "Yes" Light said "I admit it… I am Kira,"

At that moment Light started to talk a bit more.

"What are your going to do, arrest the god of the new world? Are you guys so blind to not see that the crime rate has gone down by what I think 70% and that there haven't been any wars going on. Going after me is sickening. This world is still rotten and I am the one to fix it." Light started to yell "The one thing that sickens me the most is that we have people violating these rights and killing people. They are making this world worse, not me. They don't deserve to live."

"Light" Soichiro said. "You are being hypocritical. Murder is not the right answer. If we have to stop crime it would be peaceful."

"Then I guess you assholes don't want a better world" Light said.

"Not through the hypocritical things you are doing" Soichiro said.

"I am doing this for the greater good" Light yelled.

"Greater good" Near said. "Shut up Light. You are not the hero, you were never the hero. Your extremist methods would never make a better world. You have made the world worse, you have oppressed it."

"They worship me" Light yelled.

"No" Near said. "They fear you, you talk about this like it is justice."

"I AM JUSTICE" Light yelled starting to go insane. This caught Misa's notice and she said "Light what's wrong?" before Rester covered her mouth.

"Light" Near said "You were never justice, you are simply a delusional madman trying to take over the world. You see things like you have the right to have judgment over others, but the real fact is that you are simply nothing more than a crazy serial killer. Just accept it."

Everybody in the room except Light and Misa agreed with Near's statement.

"You guys don't understand this" Light yelled. "You don't understand it at all. Somewhere there is a child crying because their parents were murdered and the killer got away with it. You guys never got as far as I got, so you have no right to say any of this. If I can't make a perfect world no one can. Sure murder is wrong but there is no other way to fix it. You guys have no reason to go after Kira."

"We went after Kira because he was a mass murderer" Near said. "And you are Kira. When will the just accept that you have lost this game? You will not change any of our minds."

"Light", Matsuda said, "I don't know what to think of you anymore."

"I never thought my son could be Kira" Soichiro said. "There is nothing left for me now."

"I am doing this for a better world" Light said. "If I am evil, than I am necessary evil."

"You killed Sayu" Soichiro complained. "You tried to kill me, your own father. How can you say you are justice."

"A means to justify an end" Light said.

"No" Near said. "You are just evil. Would a good guy kill someone who disagreed with him like Lind L. Taylor? No. Would he kill someone who had given him the all clear like Raye Penbar? No. Would he kill anybody who was after him just to save his ass like L and Naomi. No, No, No! Light you are nothing but evil and the fact that you are holding judgment over others makes you simply a brutal dictator, nothing more, nothing less."

Light stood there for a second and looked at everybody in the room in front of him. He bent over a bit and put both hands on his cheeks, it was at that moment that he laughed a long insane laugh. This disturbed everybody here, but it disturbed Misa the most as she was struggling to break free to help Light. She had never seen Light act this way before. Something must have happened to his mind while he was here. It was then that she realized, Kira must have tempted him to this point and corrupted his mind again. Light originally wanted to just kill Near for killing Sudou but Kira must have got to him while he was here. This wasn't the original plan, Near must have tried to confuse her as well.

After he stopped laughing Light then said a few more words quietly. "The great god Kira, beaten by this kid."

These words angered Near. "I am not a KID!" he yelled.

It was then that Light whispered "Never take on a Yagami when death is on the line." It was then that he spoke to Near again.

"Hey Near" Light said. "You know the saying that when the army is decapitated, the soldiers surrender?"

"Yes" Near said. "And I know the saying that if you cut off the head of a hydra, two more heads grow back. What are you planning?"

"Nothing" Light said. "Now let's see you come to arrest me." It was then that Light unlocked the lock in his watch, revealing another piece of Death Note paper. He then took his pencil out and starting writing Near's real name Nate Rivers, which he found out when Near showed them the page Misa wrote every name on except his and hers. "Let's see you try" he yelled.

"He is writing somebody's name" yelled Aizawa and it was at that moment that Matsuda fired at Light's hands, knocking the pencil out and hitting the hand that had that watch dead center. Light yelled in pain "Matsuda, what, what are you doing?"

"Light" Matsuda said quietly "Do you remember Sayu, do you remember your sister? Do you remember how much dedication you had to rescuing her before she died? Was that all a lie?" Matsuda yelled.

"How could it be a lie" Light said with a few giggles. "I was in a stalemate."

"Then why didn't you rescue her?" Matsuda yelled "Why did you kill her? Was it because she was a threat and you had to save your own ass or was it something more. Tell me do you still love your sister?"

Light was still deluded. "This new world comes first" Light yelled.

"Now I get it" Matsuda said "You don't care about your family. You don't care about them at all. You don't even care about your sister. I'm going to kill you for what you have done." It was then that Matsuda shot Light repeatedly.

Each shot from that gun gave Light on incredibly unbearable pain. Light was shot all over his body. No major organs were damaged in the process but the blood loss was making him weaker and weaker. It was then that Light started to regain control over himself.

"I… I do love my sister" Light thought. "Her death was why I went in a better direction. Kira must have corrupted me again, just like he did six years ago. This pain is unbearable. I guess I am no longer their friends, not in their eyes. They have to understand, but how."

It was then that Light saw his conscience "He, he was always there to encourage me to redeem myself but I haven't redeemed myself, not in his eyes and not in their eyes. There is only one way out of this."

"You know what" Light said in a normal tone. "Screw this." Those words were heard from everybody in the room. Light then took his watch off and took out the sharp pin that he used when he was writing Higuchi's name five years ago. Matsuda was so surprised that he stopped shooting Light. Light then took that pin and rammed it into his left arm so hard it disabled the arm. He then rammed it into his left leg so hard that that leg was disabled and then he put the pin in his mouth with the pin sticking out and scraped it into his right arm until that arm was disabled. He then spit the pin out of his mouth.

Light was crippled. He walked slowly to the wall on the right with the strength he had, dragging his left leg. It was the same wall where Kurou Otoharada died on. He then sat down. Only one leg was moving slightly while all the other limbs were not. At this point everybody was shocked at what he did. Everybody turned to face Light.

It was then that Kira started disappearing from Light's visions. He saw Kira there ranting up a storm about Light betraying him. It was there that Light thought "Goodbye Kira, I am never going to see you again."

Light's eyes changed from angry to sad and regretful. About a minute after he sat down at that wall, Light spoke in a regretful but honest manner.

"Yes I killed them, I killed them all" Light said.


	24. Endgame: Reclamation

_**Chapter Twenty Three – Reclamation**_

* * *

It was then that Light spoke about the people he killed. "I killed Sayu" he said and then he continued. "I killed L, Raye Penbar, Naomi Misori, Aiber, Wedy, the Yotsuba group. I killed so many that I can't remember most of them and now it is over for me."

It was then that Light turned to Matsuda who was still holding his gun.

"Matsuda", Light said regretfully, "You are the only one who has a gun. You can shoot me in the head or the heart and end it right now. In the end there is nothing left for me."

Then Matsuda threw away his gun to the ground. "Light", Matsuda said, "how can I even trust you, you have been our enemy for so long and we didn't even know it." Matsuda yelled "How can I trust you when you betrayed all of us?"

"Don't trust me" Light said. "You should never trust a person who has killed thousands and lied about it for such a long time."

"How do we know you are telling the truth then Light?" said Soichiro "I'm having trouble even looking at you now that I know who you really are."

Light knew that he had to make them believe he was telling the truth at this point because he really was. "Right now I am telling the truth to you guys."

"How can we know Light?" Soichiro yelled in a sad way. "You have lied to us for so long."

"I promise on my life that everything you will hear from now on is the truth" Light said. "I have lied to you guys for so long it is time for you guys to hear how I honestly feel."

"Back in November 23rd 2006", Light said, "I discovered a Death Note. At first I thought it was just a prank but after I used it for the first time I became suspicious that it was real. After I killed a second criminal, I discovered that the Death Note was real. At first I was traumatized by my actions and then I thought that the Death Note could be used for good, so that is when I started my goal."

Light continued. "I started killing criminals and then the Death Note started corrupting me and I started wanting to be the god of the new world. I was the one to kill Lind L. Taylor that day when L challenged me. Killing Lind L. Taylor because he disagreed with me became one of many lines I would later cross. I killed people who were in the way as well like Raye Penbar and Naomi Misori. I deliberately had a plan to lose my memories so I could kill L and free Misa at the same time and then I continued with my goal. It wasn't until I killed Sayu that I started to regret my actions."

"You regretted your actions?" Matsuda said surprised.

"I still do" Light said. "I regret every kill I made with the Death Note and every attempted kill, even you guys. I regretted killing Sayu the minute I did it, knowing that I wouldn't see her again in my lifetime. I loved her. I cared about her. I care about all of you, a god wouldn't kill the people he cares about."

"That doesn't mean we forgive you" Aizawa said. "The actions of Kira are unforgivable."

Light turned to everybody and said "I am not asking for your forgiveness. I know my actions are unforgivable" Light said. "I am at least asking for your understanding."

Light continued to talk "I can't take back anything I have done. I can't bring back anybody I killed. I'm sorry" Light said. "They are all in Mu right now. There is no heaven and there is no hell, all there is is Mu."

Light continued talking. "Mu is not an afterlife either but whatever it is, I am going to find out what it is today."

These words shocked both Soichiro Yagami and Misa Amane. Soichiro ran towards Light and took Matsuda's gun. "No Light" Soichiro said realizing that he was going to lose Light. "You can't die. If you die, I die with you."

"Dad", Light said, "put that gun down." But Soichiro put in closer to his head. "Dad, please put that gun down" Light said.

It was then that Light answered in the most serious manner he has ever been "Soichiro, will you please put that gun down this instant."

These words shocked Light's father as he finally put the gun down "Light, why? I don't care if you are a mass murderer. It is just too much of a loss to lose both of my children."

"Dad", Light said honestly, "I have been living by death's strings ever since I got that Death Note." It was then that Light's head turned to Ryuk.

"Ryuk made a deal with me" Light said. "The deal was that I could keep the Death Note if he could write my name down when it was my time to die. If I could keep providing him entertainment value I could still live, but I am afraid that this entertainment value has just ran out."

Soichiro turned to Ryuk. "Ryuk", Soichiro said, "is this true?"

"Of course it is" Ryuk said as Light showed eyes of nothing but guilt and regret. "When it is his time to die I would write his name down, but I am willing to let him finish."

"No" Misa yelled getting out of Rester and Goivanni's grip. "No, No, No. Light I can't move on without you. You are my life. If you die there is nothing left for me. You avenged my parent's deaths Light. You have cared for me for so long. I was meant to be with you. Light you have to understand please don't die on me."

Misa still cared about Light and if Light couldn't convince her, she would commit suicide. Light really cared about Misa in these last few months. She was the thing that made him happy, a person he could relate to and connect to and now a best friend. The pedestal must be broken.

"Misa" Light said.

"What?" Misa responded.

"Did I really kill the person who murdered your parents or did I kill an innocent person who was falsely accused of his crime" Light said. "You told me that many people thought he was innocent."

"No", Misa said, "That can't be true."

"During my time as Kira I killed criminals whose names and faces were broadcast on television" Light said. "Because they were broadcasted I didn't know if they were truly innocent or truly guilty. There was a time where I was killing petty criminals but I didn't realize until recently that not just was I killing innocent people, some of the criminals I was killing could have been innocent as well."

"No" Misa said. "That is not true. That is impossible."

"Misa", Light said, "we were never meant to be together."

"What?" Misa complained.

"The day we met I said I couldn't be your boyfriend and would only act like it around everybody" Light said "Misa, it wasn't until recently that I have cared about you. I didn't start caring about you until you revealed what happened to your parents. When L arrested you, I didn't really care about the situation, I had my own plan. It wasn't until Rem, your Shinigami, threatened to kill me if I didn't save you. That was where my memory plan went into action. My amnesic self definitely cared about you but me with my memories I didn't care about you until recently. For a long time, you were just a tool, a piece in a chest game nothing more. Your heart was serpentine to me; you were kind of an annoyance. I was abusive to you, demanding you kill people to keep my secret safe. Remember when Sayu was kidnapped? I didn't want the kills to be delayed at all, I didn't care about you then."

"Light", Misa said, "you are breaking my heart."

"Misa", Light said, "I love you, but not enough to be your husband. Like I said, we were never meant to be together and it wasn't until recently I started caring about you and loving you, not for the kills but because you were a person I could understand. We are both broken souls. The people we lost made us go in a new direction. I can develop feelings for you but I would never choose you. If I had to choose somebody for a wife I would have chosen Takada or Yuri."

It was then that Misa started to break down crying "Why, why does it have to be this way" she said.

"Misa", Light said, "live on. There is more to life than just me. You can find happiness other ways. I just can't be around forever. Misa, even when I am dead, I'll still be there with you."

"Really" Misa said upset. "And how can I know that, that I am not your girlfriend?"

"Misa", Light said, "you were a great friend to me but you must move on. I have seen so much in the value of life, Misa when I am dead please abolish ownership of the Death Note. It will help you recover."

It was then that Misa stopped talking to Light and Light was able to continue.

"What a pathetic life I lived" Light said "A ridiculously short 23 years and there is nothing left for me. If I knew this would be the outcome of my life I would have never accepted that Death Note. It is only recently that I have realized that I became the thing I made my mission to destroy, a criminal. I have wasted my life on a pathetic goal. God of the New World, what a pathetic idea. The criminals I killed, they were humans as well, and they had families. I have been killing loved ones for such a long time. I prevented the best chance at a friendship when I killed L and now I can never be friends with him. I have lost all of you and I can't gain anything that I lost back. I lost many friends doing this and it is just not worth it. It is strange isn't it, that death is my punishment. I die the same way I killed all those people but now death is simply mercy for me. It is a salvation."

"Light", Mello said, "you seek death as salvation. I have never seen that before, a person so broken that he wants to die. All the criminals I have heard begged for their life before they died."

"I am broken" Light said. "And I will not beg, it is the punishment that awaits me whether it is the proper punishment or not."

It was then that Light saw Near, his face was turned away and he showed apologetic eyes.

"Near", Light said, 'look at me."

It was at that instance that Near's face turned to Light, seeing his bloody bullet ridden body.

"Aren't you happy Near?" Light said. "Kira gets punished for his crimes and you get to see him be punished."

It was then that Near started to speak. "Just do what you are going to do. If this is your destined fate than I guess that is how it should be."

"Near", Light asked, "what would happen to me if I did go to court?"

"Light", Near answered, "I know what would happen. I never wanted Kira to be put to death. I never felt that was a worthy punishment for him. I would fight to make sure he got a life in solitary confinement."

"What is happening to me is a blessing, life in solitary confinement would truly be a fate worse than death" Light said. "Near, why did you have Sudou killed? He was my best friend and I cared about him a lot so why did you have him die?"

"That was not my decision" Near said. "It was a decision by the police officers. I wanted him to live but they thought he was too dangerous to be kept alive."

"I guess I get it now" Light said. "I guess vengeance was the wrong opinion after all and I see that you guys feel the same. You guys just did this to end the case. I bet you guys looked up to L a lot but when it was your turn to continue the case, you guys weren't out for vengeance, you were just taking down a criminal."

"That is right" Near said. "Light, I have one question before you die. The crazy serial killer Kira, or the idealist Light Yagami, which one is your mask and which one is your real face?"

"That is an interesting question" Light said. "I can say that Kira was suppose to be my mask but as the Death Note corrupted me more it became more and more as my face. By the time you and Mello had arrived on the scene. Light was basically dead and Kira was in control."

Light continued talking.

"There are three books in my room" Light said. "One is for Misa, another one is for you dad, and the last one is for the Task Force. In the third book is my will, you will see what I want happened to me when I am dead. Near, the money you get for the case, give them to the families of Kira victims. They need it the most. When the case is over, both me and Misa's Death Note have to be burned. Nobody should have this power. There is nothing good that can come out of the Death Note, only loss and devastation."

It was at that time that most of the faces in the room looked apologetic to Light. There was hope, he wouldn't be forgiven for his crimes but at least he would be understood.

"I guess this is the closest I will ever come to redemption" Light said. "I was wrong, I was always wrong. Kira is not justice, he is an enemy to society and he deserves to be punished. I never thought I would sink this low in society. I am the biggest mass murderer in history and I had the most powerful murder weapon. I can see society being better without me. Kira was nothing but a monster and that monster consumed me. I was stricken by this game that I played as I went and now I am running into the abyss. I want to take everything back. I want to take everything back right now but it is impossible. There is nothing left for me. Nothing left to live for, and now I am dying to fulfill the deal I made with Ryuk. Madness really was like gravity to me. I just became more and more insane. I am a terrible person but at least I admit it. I deserve the karma that is coming to me. I am going to die today and I was going to die whether I liked it or not."

"Ryuk", Light said then, "it is time."

"All right" Ryuk said as he started writing Light's name.

夜神月  
Light Yagami

"Well Light" Ryuk said. "I guess this is goodbye. It was fun while it lasted. Things were interesting."

"Yes" Light said. "It was fun, for you. For me it was nothing but absolute misery."

It was then that Light spoke again "I guess this is the end" he said. "I am finally free. I'm going to see Sayu again."

Light was starting to fade away but before he closed his eyes he saw L or L's spirit. The spirit was smiling for the first and only time Light would see it. Not smiling that Light was going to die but smiling because Light redeemed himself in his eyes. It was then that he spoke, this was the first time Light had heard L's voice in a long time and he was so relieved to hear it again.

"It is okay Light" L said as Light started to see L coming closer to him and then he felt L's touch. "Don't worry Light" he said. "I'll see you on the other side."

Those words soothed Light and he closed his eyes and smiled for the first time in quite a while. Light maintained his smile the whole time even when he felt that painful heart attack. Light maintained an optimistic happiness as he went though the most pain he ever felt in his life. The pain that all the criminals he killed felt before they died. A pain created from a thing that had been ruining many people's lives for a long time. Light stayed like this to the end.

And then Light passed away. He knew no more as death took him. It was all over. After almost 6 years it was all over.


	25. Endgame: Fixxxer

_**Chapter Twenty Four – Fixxxer**_

* * *

At the moment Light was dead, Soichiro started caressing Light's face, shocked at the site. He still had trouble believing what his son had said to him after lying to him for about six years. He just couldn't believe the idea that Light was dead. Now with no children left, Soichiro was left there simply saying Light's name.

"Light" he said "Please wake up. I-I can't go on without you." It was then that Soichiro decided to point Matsuda's gun towards his head "No, if you are going to Mu than I am coming after you."

Matsuda noticed what Soichiro was doing at the moment and ran towards him.

"No" Matsuda yelled. "Light wanted you to live." It was then that the gun was shot.

The bullet had missed Soichiro's head, but it went through Matsuda's hand. Matsuda was bleeding in pain. "Get him medical attention" yelled Aizawa. "I don't want to see another person dying today."

Matsuda's hand was wrapped and he had enough strength to go to Misa who was crying on the ground. "I'm sorry Misa" Matsuda said. "It was fated to happen and he chose his fate."

"You think that is all?" Misa said crying. "We were never meant to be together. That is what he says and then he makes sure that that is what happens."

"I think you are taking this too personally" Matsuda said.

"Personally" Misa said. "I have understood Light for longer than you guys have."

"Probably not his father though" Matsuda said. "But if Light really was who he says he was after he killed Sayu then we will need your personal experience for answers. You were with Light without us for about a few months so this might relieve some of the confusion."

"Confusion" Misa said. "So not everybody believed Light."

"I think they believed him" Matsuda said. "I do. I don't forgive him but I at least understand him. They just need confirmation about how honest Light was at that moment. We will talk to you about this in a few days."

Matsuda may have been the funny guy in the group but he was still a police detective solving a case. Light was one of the people he respected the most and he was one of the people in the room who did believe Light redeemed himself. He was trying to hold back his tears. Today was shocking all over from the reveal that Light was Kira, to Light's rants to finally Light's redemption and death. He was especially sad for Soichiro, who was still his mentor in some areas of this field.

Near's eyes were wide open at the site of Light's death. His hand was on his forehead as well. He was shocked at the unexpected behavior change as well as redemption of Light. He never expected Kira to be a broken man at all. It was then that he started to leave the classroom.

"Near", Mello yelled, "where are you going?"

"I… I am going back to the headquarters" Near said. "I need to think about this."

"But what about the investigation?" Mello said. "You dedicated yourself to this ever since L died."

"Let them cover it up" Near said. "I just need to think about Kira as a whole."

Near left forcing Rester, Giovanni and Halle to leave as well. Mello followed suit as the Task Force now had to deal with covering this up. Soichiro was crying on Light's body, Misa was being comforted by Matsuda, Aizawa was still thinking of everything Light had said to him both here and before. Ide and Mogi were in the process of covering this up, so nobody would know who Kira really was.

While searching Light's body, the Task Force came around a photo in his coat pocket. It was a photo taken about 13 years ago featuring Light at 10 years old with his sister at 7. His mother and father were also in the photo and they were all smiling. It was at the site of this photo that the Task Force finally realized that Light was being honest at the time he died and Soichiro thought about bringing this photo home to his wife to inform her about the loss.

* * *

The following day the news finally got there information of Kira's death.

"There are reports coming in today that Kira was found and killed in the very nursury school he killed his first victim" the news anchor said. "According to the Task Force, Kira resisted arrest and killed the leader of the investigation Light Yagami in the process. More information of this is soon to come."

The news shocked the world. The crime rate went up just a little that following day but everybody on February 2nd was talking about nothing but Kira, with many saying that the death was a fluke and that Kira was still out there. The debates on whether Kira was right in his opinion or not were still going on. Yet, there still wasn't news if the locked up Kira followers would be released anytime soon or not.

Soichiro returned to his home to find Sachiko outside simply staring into space.

"Sachiko", Soichiro said, "are you alright?"

"Not very, given that we now lost both our son and daughter" Sachiko said.

"You heard the news" Soichiro said. "I had trouble contacting you about this information. I found this photo of us; it was in Light's pocket."

"I remember that photo" Sachiko said. "In fact Light stopped by some time ago."

"Really" Soichiro said. "What did he do?"

"You might not like what you see" said Sachiko.

It was then that Sachiko took Soichiro up to Light's room to see that the room was mostly destroyed with several things on the ground and several things broken.

"He must have come when I went shopping" Sachiko said. "Something must have come over him that day for him to wreck his room and based on the picture he took, I think this was because of Sayu."

Soichiro looked at the photo again. "Yeah, I guess your right." Soichiro was now seeing how broken Light really was and he was starting to feel sorrying for him a bit.

* * *

Misa was at a bar. She had been spending her money here more after Light's death and there she drank as much wine as she could until she felt better while listening to Nightmare's The World Ruler, the last present Light gave her before he died. For the past two days Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi and Ide were trying to talk to her but she kept saying that she wasn't ready. It wasn't until the third day that she decided to talk to them.

"So", Misa said in a bit of a drunk tone, "you want to talk to me about how it was to be with Light for the past few months."

"Yes" Aizawa said. "We just need your words so we can understand Light. He died a broken man but was he entirely a broken man?"

"A broken man or a kind man" Misa said. She then showed the Task Force her CD "Light took me out a lot during that time, each time was something special. He had shown more care for me than he ever had. This CD was the last gift he gave me before he died. It is the last thing I have to remember him."

"Once you are ready to move on", Matsuda said, "you can relieve your ownership of that Death Note. You aren't going to be punished as we don't really know if we should punish someone with amnesia or not."

"Okay" Misa said. "I will tell you guys."

"In return", Matsuda said, "we will give you this book Light was working on for you."

"For me?" Misa said.

"Yes" Matsuda said. "Light recommended we give you this."

It was then that Misa told them everything she knew Light was during the last few months he was with her. Her words were deep and understanding. Ever since Light died, she had become less ditsy and more like a mature adult. She talked as long as she could about Light, breaking down more and more. The Task Force actually got to hear about Sudou as well.

"So Light went to less extremes as he went on" Matsuda said. "Before not even attempting any extreme action at all."

"That's right" Aizawa said. "It seems Light became less and less blinded by his actions as he became more aware of them. I can actually see why Light was that figure in the end. He only wanted to do good, but the Death Note's temptations got stronger and stronger as time went on."

It was then that Matsuda gave Misa the book Light wanted to give her. The book was full of several notes to her. They were talking about his care for her, the value of life and why you should move on with it. Light's words in that book were powerful and effective and Misa was crying tears of joys reading them. She was gaining back her will to live after she had lost everything.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you" Misa said hugging Matsuda, Aizawa, Ide and Mogi. "He may be gone but he is still here with me. I understand it now."

"You're welcome" Matsuda said shyly. The Task Force left the place and then decided to go out to lunch and hang out together.

* * *

At the SPK headquarters Near had been behaving differently for about three days. His eyes were almost always awake. He had been twirling his hair more than usual and he didn't eat as much as he usually did. Near was shocked for quite some time, questioning everything he previously thought about Kira as well as thinking about how L would have thought of Kira at this moment as well. His mind had been quite shattered for a bit but after those three days were over he was back to normal. It was two days later that Mello returned to the headquarters, seeing Near behaving normally in the control room.

"Hello Mello" Near said. "I knew it was you."

"Okay" Mello said. "What are you doing?"

"I am finishing up the remaining things with this investigation" Near said. "I am giving all the control of the police forces back and I have just recently released all the Kira followers that were locked up. I have realized something. I have went too far with my actions."

"Too far" Mello said surprised. "If it wasn't for you, Kira would still be out here."

"I understand that" Near said in a caring tone. "But what I did was take people's rights away, forcing them to follow my authority as well as breaking an already broken man. If I didn't know Kira was broken, I wouldn't have gone this far."

"Are you excusing Kira?" Mello said angrily.

"No" Near said "Kira may have become a broken man due to his actions but that doesn't excuse the terrible things he has done to the world. Even he admitted it. But Light Yagami was just a high school student at the time he started being Kira. He was an idealist hoping that he could make the world a better place. Based on the way he grew up, I can understand he became desensitized by all the crime and injustice at the time he found the Death Note. I think the reason he even became crazy was because of his repeated uses of the Death Note. It was almost like a drug that slowly affected his mind. He didn't want to become that way but he did anyway. Kira was just a mask and it became more and more like his face. But killing Sayu broke him. It broke him to the point where not just he became more aware of his actions but he regretted them as well. I may not agree with Kira's ideas. I may think what he did was unforgivable but in the end I feel sorry for Light."

"I understand a bit of what you are saying" Mello said. "But I never cared for the Yagami family."

"But I do think L had care for them a bit" Near said. "In a few days I am going to Light's funeral to pay my respects. He may have been a terrible person but he was still human. At least I can understand him now."

"Nate" Mello said. "What are you planning on doing after this?"

"Miheal" Near said. "After Light's funeral, we are going to settle who gets credit for the Kira investigation and then I will let you take my place as the new L."

"You're giving me that position?" Mello said. "I thought you wanted that position more than I did."

"I am retiring from my duty" Near said. "After this I am going back to the Wammy House. I am thinking of being a teacher to the children there just like L was. Mello you were always more suited for a position like this. Perhaps more than me and L were. You are about as intelligent as both of us and you are more aggressive in your approach than any of us were. I will even let you bring Matt along for the ride."

"Thank you" Mello responded. "I will do my best as the new L."

"You were certainly made for that position" Near said and then he smiled. Not a creepy smile but a smile of pure happiness.

* * *

Back at the Task Force headquarters Matsuda and Aizawa came to comfront a lonely Soichiro, still scarred by the death of his son and daughter.

"What are you doing?" Matsuda said.

"Nothing" Soichiro said. "As there is nothing left for me."

"No don't say that" Matsuda said. "Light was hoping you have a bright future."

"Light" Soichiro said. "My son. Why would you trust a homicidal maniac like him?"

"It's not because he is a homicidal maniac" Matsuda yelled. "It is because I can at least see him as human. Light was not a monster, what he did back there was for all of us."

"He took the easy way out" Soichiro said.

"He may have" Matsuda said. "But from what Light told me, we shouldn't trust him because of his deeds but we should at least understand him. I don't forgive Light at all for what he has done but at least I can see it through his eyes and I can feel sorry for him."

"I feel sorry for my son as well" Soichiro said. "But how can I move on from this when I have to live with the fact that my son was this type of maniac for about six years?"

"Chief", Matsuda said, "you have taught me many things ever since I became a police detective but one of the gifts of life is that we learn more about people every day. At the beginning of the investigation, sometime after we met L face to face for the first time, I asked L if Kira's acts really are unforgivable and he said that they were, but he needed to meet Kira to understand him saying that if Kira is different from what he expected he could forgive Kira as a person but not for his actions."

Matsuda continued talking. "The day before L died, I asked him the same question and he responded by saying that Kira's acts are unforgivable but if Light really is Kira then he would feel sorry for him as he could see what Light was like before he was Kira. He said whether he died tomorrow or not, we should still suspect Light and that in the end we are all liars."

"Those are deep words" Aizawa responded to Matsuda. It was then that he went up to Soichiro "Light wanted you to have this"

It was a book for Soichiro written by Light. It began with a small passage.

私が引き起こした罪のために申し訳ありませんが、十分ではありません最後にさえごめんなさい  
I am sorry for the sins I have caused but in the end even I'm sorry isn't enough.

Soichiro read the book page by page as he started to smile. Light really did care about him and everyone else and he hoped for them to move on well. He even saw Soichiro and Sachiko having more children in the future.

The third book was for the Task Forcec It was a book that had a few alternative but better solutions for making a better world. The first one was the one Light considered the best. It was called Project Requiem. Project Requiem gave prisoners stricter parole hearings as well as longer prison sentences to make sure if the person really was rehabilitated. It also wanted people to investigate more into what made people commit the crime in the first place so they could understand these people more psychologically.

* * *

That Friday was Light's funeral and the entire Task Force was there. Misa as well as Sachiko and Soichiro was there as well. The ceremony went on for longer than it did for Sayu as the people there had more to say. Soichiro was the one who talked the most. Near was there as he promised and he showed more respect than the people there were expecting.

The food was all Light's favorites ranging from BBQ potato chips to Hot and Sour Soup. The people there enjoyed the food and celebrated Light's life to the best that they could.

Light's will had certain things that needed to be done. Light wanted to be buried next to Sayu so he could be with her forever and Light wanted his coffin to be filled with the things that made his childhood so happy, including that photo taken 13 years ago. Light was very peaceful in death and showed that happy smile even when he was dead.

Soichiro and Matsuda chose responsibility in burying Light as they were the ones who understood Light the most at this point.

When the burial was done, Sachiko and the rest of the Task Force left.

"Are you coming?" Sachiko asked.

"I'll be coming back later" Soichiro said. "Just let me be with my son for a bit longer."

"I will see you back at home" Sachiko said in a sad tone.

"Yeah", Soichiro said sadly, "home."

There were only three people at the gravesite, Soichiro, Near and Misa.

"No parent should outlive their children" Near said. "I am really sorry for your loss but now I can understand who your son really was."

"Is he still a monster?" Soichiro said. "I don't think he is but…"

"Mr. Yagami" Near said. "He was never a monster. He was as human as all the rest of us. He was a person who only ever wanted to do good but came under the influence of a thing nobody should use. He may have been a terrible person, but now I can see that he was the victim as well."

"Light", Misa said, "even though you are gone you will still be my guidance. I will make sure the world is still bright without you."

"L once told you that the world would be dark for you without Light" Near said holding Misa's shoulders from below.

"Yes", Misa said, "he did."

"Misa, Soichiro", Near said, "I have lost just as much as you guys have and I am still going on. I will never forget the day my parents died. It was the day that changed me forever."

"I guess you and I are connected in more ways than just one" Misa said. It was then that she gave Near a hug and started to leave. The hug surprisingly made Near feel better. Near had made it his goal to atone for the injustice he did with Operation Oxymandias. He would be a kinder person for the future.

"So are you still planning on burning the Death Notes?" Soichiro said to Near.

"Yes" Near said. "They will be burned tomorrow and Misa will lose her memories of being Kira. Light didn't want anybody to have this power, so we are taking the responsibility of making sure this murder weapon never gets used again. Unless a new Kira comes back, but I don't know if a new Kira is coming anytime soon."

"I can understand" Soichiro said.

It was then that Near started to leave as well. "I guess this is goodbye" Near said.

"Yeah" Soichiro said. "Goodbye."

Near then left the graveyard and Soichiro was there for about one more hour. He stayed there remembering Light from birth till death as tears were coming to him more and more. After that hour passed he finally left the graveyard. His wife was worried sick about him and he knew now that there were Light's words to follow. Light wanted him to live on and so he will.


	26. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

After Light's funeral, both of the Death Note's were burned by Near the following day and Misa finally lost her memories again. After losing her memories, Misa continued with Light's hope that she move on with life and enjoy it to the fullest. It took her several years to fully recover. She found a man who loved her unconditionally and she had children, one of them she named Light.

A month after Light's funeral, Aizawa retired from the Task Force to be with his family more often and to find a more relaxing job. It was said that he quit because he didn't want to work on another investigation after this one went too far. He still regularly hangs out with members of the Task Force and doesn't mind joining them every once in a while.

Two months after Light's death, Ryuk committed suicide. The reason was that he was tormented in the Shinigami realm. Light's deal with Sidou was that when he died and Ryuk returned to the Shinigami realm, Ryuk would be tormented with constant punishments for being involved with ruining the life of a human on Earth. The deal was that if this was done, Sidou would never have any of his things stolen from Ryuk again. Sidou made this deal with the Shinigami King as the Shinigami King wasn't fond of Ryuk in the first place and wanted the order in the Shinigami realm to change. After two months of torment, Ryuk saved the life of a kid who was about to be killed to end his own misery. In his final thoughts Ryuk remembered Light but looked back at him in disgusted knowing that what he was feeling for that minute is the same thing Light felt as well.

Light rebuilt his pedestal with Sayu and L in Mu. Even though he wasn't alive, he was happy to be with these two again. Light looked back at his actions with nothing but regret and sorrow but he felt that being these two in death was enough of a happy ending for him.

Sudou's family never completely recovered from his death as they became activists against the police system for the unfair treatment they had on Kira followers even after Near shut down his involvement and let the followers all go. To date, they have never been successful in changing the police state in Japan.

Yuri was less affected from Light's death, knowing that if she got involved she might have ended up like Sudou. Yuri kept having mixed feelings about Light as a whole, she knew he was Kira but she never cared about Kira. She only really liked Light because he was a great person to be around. Yuri later got married and had kids but even then she thought about Light and how Light said he didn't deserve to be her girlfriend.

A year after Light's death, Light's father Soichiro finally retired from the Task Force to live with his wife and rebuild his family. He never completely forgave Light but he looked back on what Light wanted out of life and what he felt would make him happy. Light would have never wanted another Yagami to end up like him, so when the day to have new children came, they hoped they would not be corrupted by anything.

Mello became a very successful detective as the new L and he and Matt partnered together to take on criminals. The credit for finding Kira went to Near when he won the chess game, best two out of three. Mello knew that he had to pass his job down to another Wammy kid when it was his turn to retire but he finally got his dream to live up to L as a whole and he was eventually considered one of the greatest detectives who ever lived.

The money for the Kira case was given to the families of Kira victims as Light wanted. Matsuda and Mogi helped create the Yagami act which followed what Project Requiem was. The crime rate in Japan went down by 50% thanks to this act and Matsuda and Mogi are trying to introduce this act in other countries as well.

Takada and Mikami had a hard time going on when they heard Light had died. Mikami later quit the justice system to rebuild his life after being tormented for so long as a child. Takada was actually able to talk Mikami down from committing suicide. Takada continued as a news anchor as it was her dream job and later had a husband as well as a child. Mikami became more reclusive as the years went on and later disappeared from media in general.

Five years after Light's death, Sachiko gave birth to two new , Rockuro and Hikari Yagami. Every year, the Task Force as well as the Yagami family visits the graves of Sayu and Light. Rockuro and Hikari would never find out that Light was Kira at all. Rockuro went in the same direction as his father and worked to become a police detective while Hikari became a pretty well known Mangaka as well as a Seiyuu.

Near became an ambassador for peace after several years of teaching kids at the Wammy House. He also decided to start living his life to the fullest as it would be something Light would have wanted him to do. The SPK disbanded as soon as Near quit the job to teach the Wammy kids. Giovanni became a hardworking business man and later married Halle. Rester retired after working with the detectives for a few more years.

Ide later left Japan to live in America. Ide still took detective work seriously and chose to become his own private detective. He became very competitive in the field to the point where Mello started to take notice.

After several years Rockuro Yagami and Hikari Yagami both married and had children. Hikari gave birth to Mashiro Yagami while Rockuro's wife gave birth to Akito Yagami. It was here that Soichiro Yagami the greatest happiness, becoming a grandfather after all these years.

* * *

Nearly 33 years after Light's death, Soichiro went to the graveyard yet again. His hair completely white and he had a fully grown beard after all these years. He walked slowly as his lack of strength, thanks to his age, made it difficult to walk.

He searched the graveyard until he found Light and Sayu's graves. He just stood there for a few seconds looking at the grave. He brought flowers. His son had wanted him to move and he had done it successfully. He had found happiness again after so many years.

It was then that Soichiro saw a figure in the distance and it was walking closer to him. He looked exactly like Light, in fact it was Light. He looked the same age he was when he died but instead of wearing a business suit he was wearing a regular shirt and cargo pants. After all these years Soichiro was seeing Light again and Sayu was right behind him.

It was then that Soichiro felt Light's touch as he was on the ground and then a hug. "Thank You" Light said to Soichiro.

Soichiro felt the comfort of both Light's and Sayu's hugs as he smiled and then he closed his eyes.

* * *

**So did Light make contact with his father from Mu. Was Soichiro just hallucinating or did Soichiro die at the end of the final scene. That I am going to leave up to you to decide. In fact that is the only ambiguous part of this story, that and whether Sudou's photos were found. **

**This story has been a huge project for me and I am very happy that it has finally come to an end but like all fanfic writers I can't wait to return to Microsoft Word to write more stories. **_**The High End Of Low **_**also might get some spinoff stories as well, whether they involve Mello or the new Yagami kids. **


End file.
